Complex Communication of the Killer Whale
Have you ever heard someone say "Humans are the only animals that use language"? Such a notion couldn't be further from the truth. While there are a variety of animals that use frequencies, clicks, shrieks, hums, and much more to communicate, one of most interesting communicative beings is the Killer Whale, formally known as the Orca Whale.
Like humans, Killer whales communicate on a highly intelligent level. After all, for an animal at the top of the food chain, communication better be effective and efficient. Lucky for the Orca whale, this is exactly the case. Orcas will communicate for a number of reasons including hunting, mating, warning, navigating using echolocation, and even to show affection and social interaction, just like you and your friends! For those of you that are skeptical, keep this in mind... Just because we can't recognize something in the same way we are used to, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. In other words, just because killer whales are not speaking how humans speak, does not mean that they don't communicate in just as complex ways. In fact, a lot about the Orca is even MORE intricate than the human when considering the abilities of communication. Orcas are constantly building social hierarchies and effectively surviving in what is considered to be some of the harshest oceanic environments in the world by using such a complex communicative system. So we know that Orcas can communicate, but what makes them so unique? Lets dive in....
You may be thinking, "If they don't speak like humans, then how do they communicate?" Interestingly enough, Orca whales use their mammalian mouths and Nasal Sacs in the blowhole to produce a plethora of sounds, whistles, echolocation clicks, pulsed calls, low frequency pops, and jaw claps. The Orca shifts air pockets in the Nasal Sacs to produce different frequencies and noises for long distance communication and oral movement for close range signals. At Seaworld, this dialect has been studied relentlessly to the core, but has unfortunately been limited by its enclosed, unnatural environment. In the wild though, Orca communication can best be observed during intense hunts, unlike the manufactured environment of SeaWorld. Whereas humans rely on weapons, eyesight, and six sense to hunt for meat, the Orca whale relies on unprecedented communicative abilities mixed with an evolutionary dream of a body. When the water is murky and visibility is low, the whales will rely on echolocation and highly intelligent communication to pull off a kill, and take my word for it, there is no lack of success when Orcas set their mind on a victim. You don't get crowned the "king of the ocean" or a "killer whale" for anything. As mentioned earlier, whales can communicate in more dynamic ways than humans, while just as effective. Still not convinced? Consider the idea of Echolocation....
Picture this, you and your two friends are on a mission to find a bundle of money worth one million dollars in a field of tall grass. It is nighttime, you have no cellphones, and the grass is taller than you, making visibility extremely low. In this scenario, you and your friends will have to rely on your voice to navigate through the grass and find the money. Eventually though, the task becomes to tough, visibility is so low, and you realize that you are far away from you nearest friend in the field, struggling to hear anyone's voice but your own. While this is a problem for you, the human, a whale in this scenario will use echolocation, a high frequency noise that is able to travel expansive distances, thus communicating to other whales the location of the speaker. While we don't have anything like this built into our brains, we do indeed have cell phones which are able to send messages expansive distances, almost like a technological version of echolocation. Now, imagine you DO get to use your cellphone in that field and communicate to your friends exactly where you are, maybe even drop a location pin. Communication WITH a cellphone (or our version of echolocation) would make such a task pretty simple. This scenario is intended to mirror what it is like for an Orca hunting in low visibility waters. The only difference is, the cellphone like abilities are build into the whales head and the bundle of money is prey.
While communication between orcas may be hard to understand, it is important to be open minded to the fact that these creatures are just as capable of communicating as we are. No they don't speak english, nor do they use sign language, but they use ways of communicating that are about as foreign to us as the country of Macedonia is to a guy living in central Illinois. After all, the size of whale's brain is about as heavy as you. There MUST be some crazy shit going on in there that we cannot even begin to understand.
Shoutout to Snagfish followers, keep it weird.
Written by Dan (Owner of @snagfish)
Enjoy some Orca memes below
Like humans, Killer whales communicate on a highly intelligent level. After all, for an animal at the top of the food chain, communication better be effective and efficient. Lucky for the Orca whale, this is exactly the case. Orcas will communicate for a number of reasons including hunting, mating, warning, navigating using echolocation, and even to show affection and social interaction, just like you and your friends! For those of you that are skeptical, keep this in mind... Just because we can't recognize something in the same way we are used to, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. In other words, just because killer whales are not speaking how humans speak, does not mean that they don't communicate in just as complex ways. In fact, a lot about the Orca is even MORE intricate than the human when considering the abilities of communication. Orcas are constantly building social hierarchies and effectively surviving in what is considered to be some of the harshest oceanic environments in the world by using such a complex communicative system. So we know that Orcas can communicate, but what makes them so unique? Lets dive in....
You may be thinking, "If they don't speak like humans, then how do they communicate?" Interestingly enough, Orca whales use their mammalian mouths and Nasal Sacs in the blowhole to produce a plethora of sounds, whistles, echolocation clicks, pulsed calls, low frequency pops, and jaw claps. The Orca shifts air pockets in the Nasal Sacs to produce different frequencies and noises for long distance communication and oral movement for close range signals. At Seaworld, this dialect has been studied relentlessly to the core, but has unfortunately been limited by its enclosed, unnatural environment. In the wild though, Orca communication can best be observed during intense hunts, unlike the manufactured environment of SeaWorld. Whereas humans rely on weapons, eyesight, and six sense to hunt for meat, the Orca whale relies on unprecedented communicative abilities mixed with an evolutionary dream of a body. When the water is murky and visibility is low, the whales will rely on echolocation and highly intelligent communication to pull off a kill, and take my word for it, there is no lack of success when Orcas set their mind on a victim. You don't get crowned the "king of the ocean" or a "killer whale" for anything. As mentioned earlier, whales can communicate in more dynamic ways than humans, while just as effective. Still not convinced? Consider the idea of Echolocation....
Picture this, you and your two friends are on a mission to find a bundle of money worth one million dollars in a field of tall grass. It is nighttime, you have no cellphones, and the grass is taller than you, making visibility extremely low. In this scenario, you and your friends will have to rely on your voice to navigate through the grass and find the money. Eventually though, the task becomes to tough, visibility is so low, and you realize that you are far away from you nearest friend in the field, struggling to hear anyone's voice but your own. While this is a problem for you, the human, a whale in this scenario will use echolocation, a high frequency noise that is able to travel expansive distances, thus communicating to other whales the location of the speaker. While we don't have anything like this built into our brains, we do indeed have cell phones which are able to send messages expansive distances, almost like a technological version of echolocation. Now, imagine you DO get to use your cellphone in that field and communicate to your friends exactly where you are, maybe even drop a location pin. Communication WITH a cellphone (or our version of echolocation) would make such a task pretty simple. This scenario is intended to mirror what it is like for an Orca hunting in low visibility waters. The only difference is, the cellphone like abilities are build into the whales head and the bundle of money is prey.
While communication between orcas may be hard to understand, it is important to be open minded to the fact that these creatures are just as capable of communicating as we are. No they don't speak english, nor do they use sign language, but they use ways of communicating that are about as foreign to us as the country of Macedonia is to a guy living in central Illinois. After all, the size of whale's brain is about as heavy as you. There MUST be some crazy shit going on in there that we cannot even begin to understand.
Shoutout to Snagfish followers, keep it weird.
Written by Dan (Owner of @snagfish)
Enjoy some Orca memes below
I'm intrigued by Orcas. Thanks for keeping it weird :)
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