The Compassionate Giants: Exploring Altruism in Humpback Whales

Introduction

If you ever find yourself being hunted by a shark, do not be afraid! A humpback whale may save your life. Well, maybe. In fact, a story was told by Nan Hauser, a whale scientist who claimed a whale saved her life. In addition, there are countless recollections, footage and research relating to humpback whales showing characteristics of altruism and empathy for not only humans, but also other sea creatures. Other examples include humpback whales intervening predator hunting attempts and working in pairs. This paper will continue to critique whether this may be true and provide evidence for why or why not.

Simple acts of altruism and empathy are practiced within a human’s everyday life, whether it is giving up your umbrella to an elder on a rainy day, donating to charity or providing emotional support for a friend in need. In definition, altruism is the practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others, even if it involves putting our own self at risk. For animals, it is the behavior of an animal that benefits another at its own expense. Altruism is often accompanied by empathy, which is the ability to understand and share feelings of another. Altruistic behavior has been observed in other species of animals throughout various different research examinations. For example, one experiment has shown that rats will sacrifice their own food to save a fellow rate that is in danger of drowning (Rutgers University Community Repository, n.d.). While there is prior research in the field of studying altruistic animal behavior, there is much more to learn about other species, even ones that do not have high intelligence.

Whales, specifically humpback whales, are majestically large creatures. Research involving whales can be limited due to the nature of the environment when handling such species. Much of the observations of whales is documented by fishermen, sailors or divers. Additionally, humpback whales are unfortunately an endangered species making it harder to perform studies due to a low population as well as restrictions on allowing scientists to study them in the first place. Therefore, the sources in this paper will describe video documentation along with limited, current research in the field.

How Whales Are Portrayed in Media

Let us first discuss ways that whales are portrayed in the media, specifically movies and literature. In the real-life event movie, Big Miracle (2012), three whales are trapped in ice off the coast of Alaska in 1988. The trapped whales demonstrate altruistic behavior by staying together, ensuring the safety of the weakest members instead of abandoning them. The whales often vocalized using clicks, whistles and moans as a way of communication towards the other whales. This suggests that they may have been strategizing a plan or even comforting one another. One scene in particular showcases the youngest whale feeling weak and exhaustion. The adult whales appear to encourage the younger whale to keep swimming.

In another movie, The Whale (2011), an orphaned orca whale named Luna forms a unique relationship with humans in a Canadian bay. Since Luna was separated from his pod at a young age, the film highlights Luna’s innate need for connection, resorting to humans for that bond. Luna portrayed altruistic behavior such as gently guiding boats to protect them from colliding with objects. When humans showed acts of kindness or interacted with Luna, he would show signs of playfulness and gentleness, suggesting that he enjoyed a human’s company. This was based on a true story and while it seems to be wholesome, it raised question regarding human-animal connections and the importance of boundaries.

We cannot forget to discuss the classic American novel about a whale, Moby-Dick (Herman Melville). This story is about a sailor hunting down a giant white sperm whale named Moby Dick. The sailor’s determination to kill the whale resulted in destruction of the ship and death for majority of the crew members. This novel did not inherently discuss altruistic behavior in whales, but rather showcased the deep intelligence and emotional complexities that whales possess. It is important to note how this novel portrays the whale as human-like, which allows the reader to feel more of a deeper connection and understanding for the whale’s behavior.

Altruistic Behaviors in Humpback Whales

The main source by Robert L. Pitman was published in Marine Mammal Science in 2017. This research examines instances where humpback whales disrupt attacks by killer whales on various marine life. 115 documented interactions found that whales partake in a behavior known as mobbing, which is a defensive strategy where a group of animals cooperatively harass or attack a larger predator. Mobbing is seen typically when a species is trying to protect their kin, and the goal of mobbing is to deter the predator from attacking. The researchers analyzed prey type, humpback whale behavior and outcome. In addition, whether the prey being attacked was another humpback whale vs. a different species was closely analyzed. Vocalization, fin and tail movement and physical interference were accounted for to better understand the whale’s behavior in that moment. Out of the 115 cases, 19% involved humpbacks protecting their own species and 81% involved them protecting another species, even small fish. Surprisingly, the whales were willing to put themselves at risk for injury when placing themselves into such situations to “save” other species as well as their own.

While this may have you view whales as a kind, selfless species, there are still limitations. One limitation may simply be a misunderstanding of the humpback whales’ behavior within a threatening environment. Their response may be explained by instinct, they may generally feel threatened by predation entirely which then results in them instinctively responding to such situations. Secondly, whales may have evolved a behavioral response over time simply to prevent predation to themselves, their kin and other species. This could explain mobbing, and why the majority of humpback whales participate in mobbing. Young offspring may observably learn from other whales resulting in them performing behavior such as mobbing as they grow older, and the cycle repeats. The question is also raised that perhaps humpback whales have an advanced cognitive ability to be aware of predation encounters which allow them to act quickly and accordingly. Another thought is that our perception of whales is that they are huge, it may be easier to see them as protecting other species solely out of act of altruism because of their size. If you think about it, fish may also show altruistic behavior towards other species, but it may not necessarily be on a large enough scale to perceive their behavior as such. Can a fish really protect other species larger than themselves? To conclude, these limitations demonstrate the complexity of marine life and how there is much more to explore in further research.

Video Analysis

The story that sparked interest in choosing this topic is a YouTube video uploaded by BBC Earth called “A Whale Saved My Life.” Whale scientist, Nan Hauser, describes her belief that a humpback whale saved her from a tiger shark. Most of the event from the story are caught on video, from when the whale began warning Hauser all the way to when the whale safely returned her to the boat. She explained that the whale first started to nudge her with its rostrum, then it attempted to hold her under its pectoral fin. In that moment, she thought the whale was acting aggressive until she saw a tiger shark in the distance beneath the water. The whale then placed the woman near its splashguard and swam her to the nearby boat that her team caught on video. One year later, Hauser was doing research and received a call that a whale was near the harbor. The whale approached the side of the boat and stared directly at Hauser. Hauser jumped into the water and the whale began to nudge her and gently placed its pectoral fin above the water allowing her to hold on. This whale is thought to be the same whale that previously saved her because of the similarities of the “notches” on the tail fluke alike with the prior whale recorded.  

Many of the comments are in awe of Hauser’s story and show appreciation for the life that inhabits within the ocean. One comment reads,

“We keep looking up in search of “intelligent life” when actually we share a planet with so much intelligence right here on Earth.”

Another user comments,

“These are highly intelligent marine mammals, we should be protecting them at all cost.”

The comments go on to praise and find whales to be compassionate, emotional creatures. Many explain their concern for ocean wildlife being hunted and highlight the importance of conserving marine animals. If you choose to be skeptical in regard to this story, you cannot doubt that this video helped raise awareness on animal conservation and safety. There are thousands of additional videos online of individual stories about how an animal has shown acts of altruism and empathy, much with video evidence as well. Content online can be edited and portrayed in a way that they want you to perceive, which is something to be aware of. However, Nan Hauser’s story continues to amaze and shape other’s perceptions about our Earth’s wildlife leading to the conclusion thatanimals may be more intelligent and emotional than you think.

Conclusion

Additional research and further studies need to be conducted to have a better understanding of altruism characteristics in humpback whales. It may be interesting to study other marine life, even including smaller fish species. The ocean is vast and much of it is still left unexplored. The number of unidentified species left undiscovered can make it difficult to understand how other marine animals behave and have evolved, resulting in complex conclusions of behavior from other wildlife. In short, the recollection of stories and current research on humpback whales portraying altruistic characteristics leaves you to make the conclusion on your own. For now, let us continue to imagine that whales maybe are the gentle giants of the sea after all.

References

BBC Earth. (2018, August 30). Humpback whales protect seals from killer whale attack | BBC Earth [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXNCCdcBhcY&t=404s

Pitman, R. L., & Durban, J. W. (2012). Humpback whales interfering when mammal-eating killer whales attack other species: Mobbing behavior and interspecific altruism? Marine Mammal Science, 28(3), E546–E566. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00527.x