The sperm whale singing - the loudest sound ever made by anyone in the animal kingdom - has its own identifying dialect. In fact, according to the latest study published in Nature Communications, whales are not born with fundamentally different vocal cords or in parts of the sea where they require their own special clicks. They simply adopt the dialects of their kin, copying what they hear, just as people adopt the accent of their parents.
The sperm whale isn't the only animal that learns in this way. For a long time, I observed bottlenose dolphins in different parts of the world's oceans and noticed one very remarkable feature. This species of dolphin tends to do the same things - hunt, swim or play - together. And from generation to generation, their habits change only slightly.
In the late 1990s, Andy Whiten, in his work on chimpanzees, best described this "sensitivity" that has troubled the minds of many biologists for a long time. This work is the first systematic study of behavioral differences between different populations.
Whiten and his colleagues demonstrated differences in the performance of the same work by different groups of chimpanzees. It was based on a study of how these groups used the tools to catch ants. It turned out that such differences permeated almost all spheres of life of the monkeys. The best explanation for this was the following conclusion: chimpanzees have their own culture.
Is this culture innate in animals?
This discovery gave rise to "culture wars" between zoopsychologists and anthropologists. The main topic of controversy has been how we can address cultural changes in animal behavior.
According to the scientific approach, it is necessary to put forward an assumption and test it through experiments and observations. In the case of animal culture, any behavioral differences should not be explained by the following mechanisms. The first is the genetic factor: such differences can be “programmed” in the genetic code of different populations. The second mechanism is the difference in habitats. For example, a monkey cannot learn to break nuts with a stone if there are no stones in its habitat. Thus, the investigated differences should not be explained by the lack of capabilities or needs of the animal caused by its environment.
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Since the publication of Whiten's work, people began to notice differences in the behavior of many animal species that could not be explained by the two factors above. For example, detailed genetic research carried out by Michael Crutzen and his team helped to dismiss the "programmed" argument for tool use in dolphins.
Cultural differences are something that is acquired and transmitted in the process of social communication. We draw cultural habits from our social environment and, which is very important, do not fall under the influence of someone else. For behavioral differences to be called cultural, they need to be extended to a specific social group. As we now know, social adaptation is present in all species supposedly possessing culture.
But sometimes culture can be a hindrance to the formation of social relations; in our case, a simple language barrier often limits interaction between people. Thus, culture and social structure are, in some respects, closely intertwined: you can adopt the habits of the people with whom you interact; and the more you adopt them, the more difficult it becomes for you to interact with people outside your group.
One ocean - different clans?
Let's go back to the whales. In their latest study, Maurizio Cantor, Hal Whitehead and their colleagues explain why cultural differences are the best explanation for the existence of multilevel societies in sperm whales. This social structure is most easily described by leveling. In the case of sperm whales, individuals live in large families, and each family belongs to a specific clan. Whitehead and his colleagues have shown over twenty years of observation that the differences between whale clans cannot be explained without cultural help.
In their new study, scientists prove that such clans are not just passive associations of genetically related families. To explain the existence of the clans that took Whitehead two decades to observe, we must take into account the influence of the dialects acquired during socialization. Unification takes place not only because some individuals learn from others, but also because they use the most common dialect in the clan. Most likely, clans are formed due to the fact that sperm whales learn dialects among their relatives. Multilevel societies emerge from cultural differences - further evidence of animal culture.
So animals have got culture. Does their culture look the same as ours? No. Imagine spending all your time underwater, with limited vision, but excellent hearing and cravings for squid. Your interactions with other individuals will be different, as will your activities and opportunities.
If their culture is different from ours, this does not mean that it is worse. This means that we will have to work hard to cast aside human prejudices and try to understand her. Sperm whales learn from their fellows the habits and dialects that shape their lives and influence the structure of their societies. Their culture is as unique as ours, and the same applies to the culture of bottlenose dolphins and chimpanzees.
David Lusseau
Material translated by the project New
