A catalogue of tools used by cetaceans

Intelligence in action

Tool use among cetaceans is one of the most convincing pieces of evidence for their intelligence. Passed on culturally from one generation to the next, these techniques point to a capacity for innovation and social learning comparable to that of the great apes. This catalogue presents a dozen documented uses from around the world.

Material culture in cetaceans: a rare phenomenon among mammals

Tool use documented in cetaceans is one of the major findings of recent marine ethology. The best-known case is the “sponging” of the common bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay (Australia): some females fit a marine sponge over the rostrum to probe the sandy bottom without grazing it. Janet Mann and Michael Krützen showed (PNAS 2005) that this is a vertical mother-to-daughter transmission, a case of material culture that follows the maternal line but is passed on socially.

Other techniques on record: kelping (killer whales playing with seaweed), the lobtail feeding of the humpback whales of the Gulf of Maine (Allen et al., Science 2013), and the strand feeding of the killer whales of Patagonia, which deliberately beach themselves to catch elephant seals. These behaviours define local traditions that stay stable over several generations.

Also worth exploring

Tool use demonstrates intelligence: cognitive tests, brain and cognition, aquatic behaviours and social cohesion.