Thursday, July 2, 2009

How Smart Are Orcas?

In order to do the subject of killer whale intelligence justice, we will need to broaden the discussion to include other species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), as well as to look at the ocean environment in which they live. The subject can get fairly technical and dry, but we will try to keep it interesting and entertaining as much as possible!

As you view these videos, please keep in mind that orcas are actually large dolphins as you enjoy this fun introduction to the subject.


By all the ways that scientists measure intelligence, orcas are not far behind us, and we will examine what that means over the next month.

What does it sound like Luna, an orphan killer whale, was trying to imitate here?

2 comments:

  1. amazing. is this creature trying to imitate the sound of a motor boat?

    ReplyDelete
  2. He is imitating a boat motor!! Luna was so smart. I read that this whale badly wanted to communicate with humans and anytime he saw humans he saw them on boats so he associated the two and thought the humans communicated by making that sound which is a sound of a motor. BTW Luna was killed by a motor... =(

    ReplyDelete

Candace Calloway Whiting