Buzz
Whales stand as some of the most awe-inspiring creatures of the ocean. Their colossal size alone is enough to leave us in wonder, but they also rank among the most intelligent beings in the animal kingdom. While the term 'whale' has occasionally been used to describe porpoises and dolphins, this article focuses on the massive sea creatures—the sperm whales, blue whales, humpbacks, orcas, and many others—that have sparked myths and stories throughout history.
10. The Gray Whale's Group Mating Rituals
Gray whales engage in an unusual reproductive behavior, often performing mating rituals in groups. The typical scenario involves three whales—one female and two males. While male animals are often seen competing for mates, it's believed that the second male assists in positioning the female, making the mating process easier. These whales mate near the surface of the water, sometimes resulting in their 1.5-meter (5 feet) long penis being visible above the surface.
Helping a friend with a mate is just the beginning of the close bond that forms between male whales. They also engage in homosexual group activities, sometimes involving up to five individuals. These encounters can include belly rubbing, intertwining their penises, and gently nudging their heads against one another’s genital areas. These sessions can last up to 90 minutes. Such sexual interactions are a part of the social bonding between males, who also enjoy swimming close together and forming long-lasting friendships that can endure for several years.
9. The World’s Loneliest Whale
For over two decades, scientists have been tracking a single whale, yet no one has ever physically seen it. Dubbed the 52 hertz whale, it emits a call at a frequency that has never been heard from any other whale. Its moniker, 'the loneliest whale in the world,' arises from the fact that it never receives a response to its calls. The whale was first recorded in 1989 by the US Navy's hydrophone arrays and later identified by William Watkins of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Since then, it has been tracked across the North Pacific, from California to Alaska.
The story of this solitary whale resonates deeply on a human level. It has inspired artists, musicians, and playwrights, and even sparked the creation of a documentary. The team behind the film plans to search for the whale next year, though one scientist on the team speculates that it may not be as isolated as it is believed to be. The whale, which may be a fin whale with an unusual vocal pattern, could very well be part of a group with normal vocalizations, suggesting it might not be as lonely as its reputation implies.
8. The Whale That Devoured Other Whales
In Peru, scientists have discovered the fossilized jaws of a long-extinct whale with a bite so formidable it’s almost unbelievable. They’ve named it Leviathan melvillei, a nod to Herman Melville, the author of *Moby Dick*. While it was roughly the same size as today’s sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, its teeth and jaw muscles were far more powerful. This was due to its very different eating habits.
Modern sperm whales typically suck squid into their mouths and chew them. Their teeth rarely exceed 20 centimeters (eight inches) in length. Although that’s quite large, the teeth of melvillei were double that size. This ancient whale preferred to feast on baleen whales—like the humpback and blue whale. Their fat-rich bodies, along with their immense size, made them an ideal meal for this prehistoric predator.
7. The Whale Hunters of Lamalera
With Leviathan melvillei gone, there are few species left capable of hunting whales. Of those that remain, Homo sapiens stands as the deadliest. While whaling is often associated with the Japanese and their large-scale hunts, there are still some indigenous cultures that practice traditional whaling methods. In 1982, aboriginal peoples were granted exceptions to the global whaling ban. One of the most fascinating and dramatic whaling practices today is carried out by the Lamalera people of Indonesia.
The villagers of Lamalera capture migrating sperm whales by setting sail in small wooden boats and then diving toward the massive creatures with long spears. These spears are attached to ropes, and it’s common for the boats to be pulled beneath the waves during the struggle. The villagers often find themselves engaged in intense battles with the whale for hours, sometimes swimming alongside it. This is a perilous endeavor, as the whales can grow up to 15 meters (50 feet) long and possess enormous teeth. In some cases, not everyone involved in the hunt makes it back to shore.
The individual who delivers the fatal strike—diving into the water and driving a blade through the whale’s spine—receives the largest portion of the meat. Only about six whales are caught annually in this manner, providing sustenance for the Lamalera community for months.
6. Whale Farming
While the idea of farming whales may seem absurd to many, it hasn’t stopped some from seriously considering the concept. In 2002, the city of Hirado, located in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture, announced plans to capture minke whales in a small section of the ocean. They intended to breed these whales in captivity, using artificial insemination, and envisioned setting up viewing platforms for the public to observe the whales in the future.
Experts pointed out that the plans were both unethical and unrealistic. Like most species, minke whales are migratory, traveling thousands of miles, making breeding in captivity a formidable challenge. Additionally, providing them with sufficient food would be another significant hurdle. The head of Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees the country’s whaling activities, was more optimistic, describing it as the fulfillment of a dream. However, that dream has yet to become a reality.
Whale farming also became the subject of an April Fools’ prank by NPR. The network aired a series of fictitious listener comments, seemingly in response to a story about an inland whale farm in Belleville, Illinois. Though the joke was likely obvious (since Belleville is a regular target of NPR’s pranks), it sparked a brief surge in searches for ‘farm-raised whales’ on Google.
5. Whale Reverence
Whales play a significant role in the myths and cultures of many societies, but they are most revered in Vietnam. The coastal villages of the country are home to whale temples, where fishermen hold the creatures in divine regard, viewing them as gods or angels. Fishermen claim that whales have guided them safely back to shore during storms, leading them to perform elaborate rituals of prayer to the whales before embarking on their sea voyages.
When a whale dies and washes up on the shore, the nearby villagers observe a deeply moving mourning ritual. They drag the whale's body to a cemetery near one of their temples, where it is laid to rest. After several years, the bones are exhumed and paraded through the streets, accompanied by costumed dancers, music, and martial arts performances. The bones are then returned to the temple for display. Some of these temples have stood for centuries.
Unfortunately, climate change has impacted these customs in unexpected ways. In many regions, falling sea levels have caused the shoreline to recede by hundreds of meters, making it increasingly difficult to drag the heavy carcasses such long distances to the temples.
4. The Tragedy of Whale Deaths
Even when humans aren't intentionally harming whales, we can still pose a significant threat to them. Human-made sonar systems, like those used for mapping the ocean floor, can disorient whales and cause them to strand themselves. In 2008, a mass stranding of 100 whales occurred in Madagascar. The official investigation linked the event to an echo sounder system operated by a contractor working for ExxonMobil. However, ExxonMobil denied any connection, marking the first formal inquiry to associate sonar with whale strandings.
In Ghana, a strange pattern of whale deaths has led local environmental organizations to attribute the cause to the petrochemical industry, though no definitive evidence has been found. These groups claim the deaths began following the introduction of oil rigs in 2009. While the link remains uncertain, one factor everyone agrees on as detrimental to whales is shipping activity.
Shipping lanes along the western coast of the United States often overlap with whale migration routes, resulting in numerous collisions. Since 2001, at least 60 whales have been struck by ships off the California coast. Ships rarely suffer damage, but the whales often sustain severe injuries or die. For certain species, reducing such collisions could be crucial in determining whether they survive or face extinction.
In San Francisco Bay, authorities have turned to a modern solution for an old problem: a mobile app. This app allows sailors to record whale sightings, helping to plan safer navigation routes for the 7,300 ships that depart from the city’s harbor annually.
3. Whale Culture Is Incredibly Complex
Culture is typically a concept we reserve for humans, but the ability to transmit knowledge and ideas isn't limited to our species. Our primate relatives, including monkeys and chimpanzees, provide notable examples. Yet, beyond our own order, the most sophisticated culture is found in whales.
Cetaceans possess remarkable intelligence. Dolphins often receive the most attention in this regard, and rightly so, given their high brain-to-body mass ratio. But orcas are not far behind—boasting the second-largest brains in the ocean, with a brain-to-body mass ratio akin to that of chimpanzees. Sperm whales have the largest brains of all animals, while humpback whales possess the greatest brain surface area. With such brainpower, it's no wonder that whales are capable of impressive feats.
Studies of cultural behavior and vocal communication among killer whales have revealed complexities unmatched in the animal kingdom outside of humans. In the 1980s, a small group of humpback whales discovered a new hunting technique called lobtail fishing. Since then, researchers have tracked how this technique has spread within the whales’ social groups, showing that they’ve been learning it from one another.
Sperm whales live in societies that resemble multicultural communities. In the South Pacific, there are five distinct dialects of whale clicks. Although different clans of whales may occupy the same geographic regions, they avoid interaction with those outside their own group. Behaviors also vary between groups with different calls. For instance, a group of whales in the Galapagos that uses five consecutive clicks tends to swim in serpentine patterns close to shore, while another group that pauses after the fourth click swims in straight lines further offshore.
2. The Mystery Behind the Blue Whale Song
The mysterious identity of the 52 hertz whale isn’t the only riddle revealed by whale song recordings. A separate enigma emerged when the team at Whale Acoustics, a company specializing in equipment to record whale vocalizations, found themselves needing to re-calibrate their equipment annually. The issue was that blue whale calls were becoming progressively lower in pitch. Collaborating with scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Whale Acoustics examined older recordings dating back to the 1960s and uncovered a consistent pattern. Biologists are still unsure about the cause of this shift.
If the whales were attempting to be heard over the rising volume of shipping noise, they would likely opt for higher-pitched calls. Another possibility is that when recordings of the whales began, their population was significantly smaller—having been nearly driven to extinction during the first half of the 20th century. With their numbers now recovering, their vocalizations may have reverted to lower frequencies. However, even whale groups that were not subjected to overhunting show this same trend. Another theory suggests that since only male blue whales sing, their songs might be linked to mating rituals. Larger male whales typically produce deeper songs, so it’s possible that smaller males have started imitating these deeper calls, creating a chain reaction of progressively lower-pitched songs.
1. Whale Riding
To most people outside of Australia, venturing into its waters seems far too dangerous, with numerous deadly creatures lurking beneath the surface. But beyond the fearsome reputation of Australia’s wildlife, it is also illegal to harass or disturb animals in the wild. When it comes to whales, swimmers must stay at least 30 meters (98 ft) away. Nevertheless, Australian teen Sam Matheson ignored these rules and, at just 14 years old, leaped off a coral reef to latch onto a southern right whale. He held on as the whale carried him along. Although he was later forced to apologize, he was only given a warning, with no further punishment.
In neighboring New Zealand, whale riding plays a significant role in the mythology of some Maori cultures. According to their legends, a young man named Paikea was stranded at sea after his brothers attempted to kill him. He was rescued by a whale named Tohora, who carried him to a nearby village, where he started a prosperous life. This myth inspired both a novel and the acclaimed film Whale Rider, which tells the story of the Whangara people. The film follows a young woman striving to prove herself worthy to succeed her grandfather and become the first female leader of their community, a lineage said to trace back to Paikea.
