Tuesday, May 1, 2007

kayak trips -- what did that whale say?



On one of our kayak trips in Johnstone Strait, you'll see orcas swimming together in pods. Just like the photo above. They're always talking, being very social creatures. Which means, of course, that our adopted whale is also very social.

We know this thanks to the research done by scientists, including those at killerwhale.org.
Whales talk to each other using their own form of words, which are whistles, squeaks and whines. And in each pod, they have their own "dialect". There are groups of pods with similar dialects, and these groups are called clans.

Our own adopted whale is part of the D1 pod, and the D1 pod belongs to the A-clan. The A-clan is made up of 10 pods with related dialects.

If only we knew whale talk, we'd be off to talk to our adopted whale pretty darn quick. Unfortunately, we need the scientists as interpretors.



No comments: