Movies like Nemo Finding make it easy for us to slip into the habit of anthropomorizing marine life. After all, who wouldn’t love to think of a world where all the fish are having fishy conversations with their fishing friends. While the pulse concept may be an extension for most fish, a recent study found that the best sails are a very good thing for a group of marine mammals. The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B Journal, enlisted the help of drones to view social interactions within Arcas from a unique perspective, as in previous studies relying on observing the surface behavior of these animals.
Please, drones were raised to raise funds for public gatherings that were supported by the public and academics. With their help, the researchers were able to create a portfolio of 651 minutes of bird-watching videos filmed in 10 days. After reviewing the footage, the researchers observed that the pods of the orcas exhibited complex social structures, with certain individuals being found to form close “friendships” with certain other whales. If you’re wondering how you evaluate orcs from the air point of view, there are actually a few so-called indicators. Interestingly, these were no different than signs of friendship between people.
In a statement sent to IFLScience, Exeter Center for Research in Animal Behavior (CRAB) Professor Darren Croft said, “We are amazed at how much communication there is between whales.” Physical contact types were one of the interactions measured in the study, and analyzes of these events proved that junior whales and females tend to be centered between social groups. This feature diminished as the whale grew older.
Another interaction of interest was synchronous behavior, which is considered a sign of intimacy between many species (have you ever seen an unrealistic mating dance of a hooded grab?). Whales also had their own way of mimicking each other which is probably an indicator of intimacy between animals. Dr. Michael Weiss Croft, lead author and co-author at the University of Exeter, said: The most social contact they make is still to the individual’s liking.
