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Whales and Dolphins May Deserve 'Personhood' Status

By Jess Kilby,  Newser User

Posted Jun 26, 2009 2:38 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Whales and dolphins have highly evolved social structures and may deserve a “personhood” status similar to that being considered for members of the great ape family, Wired reports. The emotional and social areas of the cetacean brain are “enormously complex,” notes one researcher, “and in many species are “even more highly elaborated than in the human brain.”

The use of sound among whales and dolphins is particularly advanced, and researchers say there may be “something like grammar, syntax, even language” in the complex songs and codas passed between generations and individuals. The sonar use of sound has interesting social implications as well. “There’s nowhere to hide,” notes a researcher. “They can use sound to form an image of each other’s insides—whether you’re pregnant, hungry, sick.”

A blue whale in Timor waters. The government of East Timor says it plans to establish a national park to protect a motherload of dolphins and whales recently discovered off its coast.
A blue whale in Timor waters. The government of East Timor says it plans to establish a national park to protect a motherload of dolphins and whales recently discovered off its coast.   (AP Photo/NRETAS, Kiki Dethmers, HO)
A pod of killer whales are seen in Carroll Inlet, Alaska, June 14, 2009.
A pod of killer whales are seen in Carroll Inlet, Alaska, June 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rhonda Bolling)
IBottlenose dolphin swim alongside a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico miles off the coast of Panama City, Fla., June 18, 2009.
IBottlenose dolphin swim alongside a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico miles off the coast of Panama City, Fla., June 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
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Based on what we know, I’d guess that cetacean culture is intermediate between humans and chimpanzees. Not in material culture, but in most other respects.
- Hal Whitehead, Dalhousie University biologist

In a three-dimensional habitat, it’s probably much harder to say something is mine, or yours, whether it’s a piece of food or a potential mate.
- Hal Whitehead, Dalhousie University biologist

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
hamsammichs
Jun 26, 2009 12:04 PM CDT
I don't think they will have to concede that whales and dolphins are people... because their not. Just smart as hell animals. Pigs and Octopi are just as smart and complex but aren't as cuddly as chimps and dolphins so we don't even bother.
Rob
Jun 26, 2009 11:32 AM CDT
Cetaceans do not surpass humans in the brain / body ratio that is understood to play a role in intelligence, albeit a complicated relationship. They have highly convoluted brains, but that is not the only measure. That said, whaling needs to be curtailed. There is no need for it, not financial or sociological. No more whaling, no exceptions, should be the cry before something like a lightening rod statement of "considering personhood," a stupid PC phrase that seems designed for self-defeat.
Jojo
Jun 26, 2009 9:04 AM CDT
I think most human mothers will be a little envious to hear that a whale or dolphin can possible use sonar to see what is wrong with her child, whether it is just hunger or an injury. That would be a priceless ability.

 
marine animal • dolphins • whales • cetaceans • social behavior

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