Whales and dolphins are truly special. Professional captains and crew members who spend enough years at sea and watch tens of thousands of whales and hundreds of thousands of dolphins begin to understand how complex the social web is among the large finned marine mammals. It is pretty amazing what we see.
Pods of same-species whales are the most common sight in whaledom. There is usually a dominant boss that handles navigation, herding and perimeter security. It is typically a big male, and his rewards come at mealtime and during spawning season.
Very odd groupings are rarely seen and are always reason for intrigue and speculation.
For example, a whalewatching (and fishing) boat skipper friend of mine, Capt. Randy Thornton on Telstar Charters out of Fort Bragg, said, “Yesterday I saw a pod of four whales. Two were grays and two were humpbacks. They weren’t simply heading in the same direction and in the same vicinity. They were definitely together by choice. They moved back and forth, slowly across my bow, seeming to be in no hurry to get anywhere. When I came back out for my afternoon trip, I connected with that same pod and they were doing the same thing. One of the humpies was a large male and was definitely in charge of the pod, with all three subordinates seeming to be happy with the situation. One of the grays was fairly small.”
That report was very interesting behavior. They were not actively feeding and had no obvious reason for hanging out together. One thought that crossed my mind was security. If, for example, the whales knew that there were orcas not far away, the grays, especially with one being a young whale, may have sought and received protection from the alpha male humpback.
I guess we’ll never know for sure what was behind that whale behavior that day, but I have come to believe that finned marine mammals have a complex social web that has the capacity to go interspecies and perhaps for the most noble of reasons. I’m extremely careful never to assign human characteristics to animals because I believe that’s what gets us into trouble with wildlife management (management and protection according to the “cuteness scale”). But in this case, interspecies security seems a reasonable speculation.
On our Santa Barbara Channel, we have pods of common dolphins that are at times just a few animals and at times are many thousands of animals. These super pods appear to form up, run together and then break up as routine events in the social lives of these critters. I’ve often noticed that some of the pods travel in a very socially organized fashion. I’ve observed adult, near-dominant males form the vanguard, with the dominant males patrolling nearby and frequently checking the perimeters.
Young males and most females mill about freely with in the perimeter, but the mothers with pups are commonly in a fairly tight-packed nursery unit, positioned so that the entire large pod can guard and protect them. It is amazingly cute to see the little football-size babies swimming and jumping beside mom!
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
