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Cetacean intelligence is the overall intelligence and derived cognitive ability of aquatic mammals belonging in the infraorder Cetacea (cetaceans), including baleen whales, porpoises, and dolphins. In 2014, a study found for first time that the long-finned pilot whale has more neocortical neurons than any other mammal, including humans ...
Porpoises, and other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates. Porpoises range in size from the vaquita, at 1.4 metres (4 feet 7 inches) in length and 54 kilograms (119 pounds) in weight, to the Dall's porpoise, at 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and 220 kg (490 lb).
Karen Liane Pryor (née Wylie; May 14, 1932 – January 4, 2025) was an American author who specialized in behavioral psychology and marine mammal biology. She was the founder and proponent of clicker training. [1]
It is unknown why porpoises become entangled in gill nets, since several studies indicate they are able to detect these nets using their echolocation. [37] [38] Porpoise-scaring devices, so-called pingers, have been developed to keep porpoises out of nets and numerous studies have demonstrated they are very effective at reducing entanglement.
Many of the findings that apply to all cetaceans were therefore first discovered in the porpoises. [2] One of the first anatomical descriptions of the airways of the whales on the basis of a harbor porpoise dates from 1671 by John Ray. It nevertheless referred to the porpoise as a fish. [3] [4]
In 2017 Hoyt published Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises which "draws on more than 40 years of scientific interactions with these intelligent and fascinating creatures," according to Library Journal: "Hoyt writes movingly on life cycles, the future for these animals and how readers can get involved in protecting them."
Humpback whale breach sequence. A breach or a lunge is a leap out of the water, also known as cresting. The distinction between the two is fairly arbitrary: cetacean researcher Hal Whitehead defines a breach as any leap in which at least 40% of the animal's body clears the water, and a lunge as a leap with less than 40% clearance. [2]
The most common species to strand in the United Kingdom is the harbour porpoise; the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is second-most common, and after that long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). [8] Solitary species naturally do not strand en masse. Cetaceans that spend most of their time in shallow, coastal waters almost never mass ...