Local environment and population demographics, not genetics, influence bottlenose dolphin 'names' Share this Article Facebook Twitter Email You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. University Rice University There’s no magic formula for bottlenose dolphin “names.” Instead, they are an intricate part of a social hierarchy that is influenced by a dolphin’s environment and individual characteristics, says Rice University researcher Lauren Palmer, who has studied and named dolphins in the wild for more than 20 years. It was already known that naming practices varied widely among bottlenose dolphin populations, but Palmer and Rice graduate student Michael Soto report new findings in the journal PeerJ that suggest cultural aspects outweigh genetic factors in this behavior. “Bottlenose dolphins, as with many species, can exhibit behaviors that are thought to be culturally transmitted, or learned by observation of others in the group rather than through genetic mechanisms,” Palmer said. “There have been some suggestions that bottlenose dolphins do not use genetics for this purpose because it has not been observed that dolphins in the same population have the same names, and so it’s believed they don’t use this mechanism for social learning.” However, Palmer and Soto have found that in fact, even though bottlenose dolphins in certain populations use the same names, they are not the same. The researchers studied wild dolphins in the Bahamas and off southern Florida and found that dolphins within populations consistently select different names for the same behavior. “This suggests to me that bottlenose dolphin culture has a much stronger influence on naming than genetics,” Palmer said. “Of course, culture isn’t uniform either. The bottlenose dolphins in the Bahamas are naming differently than those in Florida, even though they share genes and are from a single species. You can see how complex this is going to get when you start looking at other behaviors related to their culture like play.” According to the study, bottlenose dolphins in the Bahamas consistently chose names for underwater behaviors that were different from those in Florida. For example, dolphins in the Bahamas named echolocation clicks “spam,” and the high-pitched clicks were called “grape.” Those in Florida, however, called them “spam,” and “grape” to indicate a distinct level of frequency. (It should be noted that all the studies in this paper were done before the 2015 release of a false killer whale into the wild by Dolphinaris in Mexico, and therefore did not include a false killer whale population.) Other differences between populations revealed through naming include whether a click is associated with high energy, low energy, or both. The researchers found there was no correlation between those names and dolphin genetic makeup—the most predictable trait affecting behavior (e.g., sex, age) – indicating that the use of words as a descriptive marker of behavior is in fact socially learned. “By examining the names, we can gain insight into bottlenose dolphins’ social lives and how they interact with each other,” Soto said. “For example, the type of clicks a bottlenose dolphin uses may show if she is in a male-female or mother-calf relationship. That can tell us something about her social relationships. The same dolphins also have different dialects, or variations in their words. It turns out that a dialect may indicate a specific place or activity in the dolphin community.” When it comes to culture and human interaction, however, Palmer stresses that it is important to realize that the dolphins are not humans—they don’t share our worldview or conceptual understanding of the world. “Their behaviors will look different in a variety of situations and will be determined by their goals and environment,” Palmer said. “For example, they may be doing what we do in an underwater situation, but they may not have access to resources that we have, like air.” The lead authors of the paper are Soto and Palmer, both of Rice. Additional coauthors are from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and the University of British Columbia. The National Science Foundation funded the research. Source: Rice University LIVE: Humpback whale surfaces next to SeaWorld San Diego - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8 SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – The iconic whale Shamu is back, for now. Visitors are lining up at SeaWorld San Diego to see the iconic whale Shamu. The whales are back in town! Get ready to #MeetShamu on April 8. pic.twitter.com/tjqjvfJ1W7 — SeaWorld (@SeaWorld) April 5, 2018 It is being reported that a humpback whale surfaced right next to one of SeaWorld's whale pens at the park’s Mission Bay. LIVE: Check out a live view of the park's Shamu Stadium and the whale pen right now. Humpback Whale surfaces next to SeaWorld @MissionBaySD Whale Pen Watch Live: https://t.co/3tZs0jx5vB pic.twitter.com/UJlzIWQp3h — KFMB Channel 8 (@KFMBTV) April 5, 2018 Copyright 2018 KFMB and CBS 8. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Methanol in petrol not dangerous, say experts after KQ's tweet | Published Fri, April 6th 2018 at 13:34, Updated April 6th 2018 at 13:42 GMT +3 Kenya Airways planes parked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. [File, Standard] A Kenyan airlines’ announcement on Twitter that the fuel used to power its planes contains up to 15 per cent methanol has raised safety concerns. In a statement yesterday, Kenya Airways (KQ) said the fuel also contained small amounts of ethanol and isopropanol, all of which can be safely breathed in while flying. ALSO READ: KQ shares soar 7% after bank debt deal struck “While on the ground, there may be a little more exposure to methanol than that in normal circumstances, as it is usually diluted by water during flight. However, once airborne and cruising, these substances present no safety concerns and are safely breathed in,” the statement said. The disclosure came a day after the state-owned carrier said it had started using the new fuel to power its planes. However, aviation experts were unconvinced by the statement, with some questioning whether the KQ is misleading people. “This is completely untrue. There is no such thing as aviation fuel without ethanol. It would be difficult for a jet to take off or land on an international flight with 15 per cent ethanol content in its tanks,” said an aviation expert who declined to be named. The airline further explained that ethanol in an aircraft fuel is not explosive in concentrations greater than 15 per cent, while it is combustible at up to 45 per cent. The KQ statement said the addition of about 10 per cent methanol in standard aviation fuel was made possible through a global effort led by European Union and US regulators to reduce harmful emissions from aircraft engines through selective catalytic reduction (SCR).