Dolphins Seen Riding Whales

Animals  

Summary Off the coast of Hawaii, dolphins and humpback whales have been engaging in some interesting behavior, with the whales lifting the dolphins out of the water and letting them slide down their backs.

Many species interact in the wild, most often as predator and prey. But recent encounters between humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins reveal a playful side to interspecies interaction. 

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In two different locations in Hawaii, scientists watched as dolphins "rode" the heads of whales: the whales lifted the dolphins up and out of the water, and then the dolphins slid back down. See the video below.

"What we may be seeing here is that type of surfing, but in this case the whale chose to give the dolphin a different type of ride."

“What we may be seeing here is that type of surfing, but in this case the whale chose to give the dolphin a different type of ride,” guesses Ken Ramirez, vice president of animal care and training at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.

“Both dolphins and humpback whales can be extremely playful with each other and other species,” said Diana Reiss, a cognitive psychologist and dolphin researcher at Hunter College in New York. “It is very possible that this is play, but without seeing it first hand I really don’t know.”

The two species seemed to cooperate in the activity, and neither displayed signs of aggression or distress. Whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters often interact, but playful social activity such as this is extremely rare between species.

SOURCE  D News

By 33rd Square

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