Scientists Think This is Why Humpback Whales Save Other Animals

It’s been a widely observed phenomenon for many years now, humpback whales saving other animals. We’ve seen them save seals, sunfish, gray whales and more. Over 100 incidents have been documented since the 1950s, and as they often occur in remote waters, this is likely a much more regular occurrence than may have first been suspected.

But why is this happening? What is it that draws humpbacks into saving other animals? 

Today, we might have an answer for you.

What Exactly Happens When Humpback Whales Save Other Animals?

A typical pattern of behaviour has been observed when humpback whales save other animals and their own kind. 

The orca will attack their target and soon after, adult humpback whales will appear. Usually, this will be between one to three animals. Most often two.

They’ll be aggressive towards the killer whales, splashing their fins against the surface of the water and getting in amongst the fight, as if to break it up. In one well-known example, a humpback even rolled onto its back to place a seal on its belly, out of the orca’s reach.

Sometimes they are successful in saving the creatures, sometimes they aren’t, but the humpback whales will seemingly do their best to save other animals from orca attack. 

Why Humpbacks Are Saving Other Animals: Scientific Explanation

In an interview on The Marine Mammal Science Podcast, Dr Robert Pitman offered up his expert analysis of the phenomenon. 

Pitman posits that large adult humpback whales know they have nothing to fear from killer whales, particularly when they’re in groups. Their sheer size and strength means they could easily wound or kill an orca with a slap of their powerful fluke or pectoral fins. It’s important to remember that while seemingly cumbersome and gentle creatures, whales can be agile, aggressive and fast when necessary.

But why do they opt to turn on such agility and aggression to save other species? 

When mammal hunting orca are prowling for prey, they remain silent. This tactic prevents their target from realising they are orca food until it’s too late. Once the killer whales pounce they suddenly become very noisy, communicating to each other with loud vocalisations. 

At this point, it’s worth pointing out that humpback whale calves are on the menu for killer whales. While they rarely attack adults, it is not uncommon for them to prey on juvenile whales. 

The theory goes here that when killer whales attack -- humpback whale calf or otherwise -- the noise level kicks up a gear. Adult humpback whales have powerful hearing, and any within the area will be aware that orca are attacking prey. They’ll also be able to tell where the noise is coming from and so can move to intercept the attack. 

Whales rarely take part in strenuous activity because it expends high amounts of energy, which is another reason why humpback whales saving other animals is so strange. To take part in their disruptive behaviour, humpback whales must use vast amounts of energy which can be risky for such massive creatures. Typically, whales use gentle movements to conserve their fat, but chasing down killer whales is far from a relaxed lifestyle. 

Current research addresses this problem adequately as well. 

It is suggested that humpback whales have an automatic response to the noise of an orca hunt. It’s ingrained in their cognition that this noise means a threat to humpback whale offspring and that it’s a natural defence mechanism designed to preserve the life of humpback whale calves. The humpbacks aren’t simply investigating, they’re responding to an inbuilt desire to defend their kin. This is why they will expend their energy, because they are concerned about protecting their gene pool. 

The reason humpback whales save other animals is because their minds are programmed to respond to the noise of orca attacks, whether against their own species or not. This explanation says that it's not because they want to help an animal survive, but instead, stop the orca from killing, because they may be killing one of their own.

Humpbacks are also known to chase down orca after a hunt and disturb them until they leave the area. This is called ‘mobbing’ - when a group of prey animals collectively harass predators until they vacate the area, often done to protect young. Humpback whales will ‘mob’ killer whales who are attacking other animals, seemingly in an attempt to prevent further hunts despite not having attacked one of their own species. 

It is believed this is another automatic biological response. 

Is This Really Why Humpback Whales Save Animals?

This new explanation for why humpback whales are saving animals makes perfect sense. It explains clearly pre-defined biological actions programmed into the mind of a humpback whale. 

Input equals output. 

But are humpback whales actually behaving in this way?

Whales are considered highly intelligent animals, with complex social structures and the ability to learn from each other. Studies have shown humpback whales have very strong perception, awareness and communication abilities and can even show emotion.

Going past humpbacks alone, we can examine the intelligence of Cetacea in general. 

A video discussing orca ethics, which looks at the social structure of killer whales, enlightens us to the complexity of all large-brained mammals and how they’re very much more than just biological matter following instinct, but genuinely conscious beings with the ability to process thoughts just like humans. Scientific research covered in Scientific American also suggests that whales actually have brains capable of things we are not. Whale cognitive abilities might not be lesser to humans but merely different. 

In a blog published by University College London (UCL), there is a discussion on the mental capabilities of both whales and dolphins owed to their large cerebral cortex, which is known to be the origin of all higher forms of thinking. Whales and dolphins have greater cortex surface areas than humans. 

Does this mean that whales are more intelligent than humans? 

It’s a very hard thing to measure, but the blog by UCL does finish with a thought that very much embodies the ideas covered in both the video discussing orca ethics and Scientific American: That whales and dolphins have not done things like build guns, cities and ‘the wheel’ because they can’t, but because they don’t need to and haven’t even thought to do so. 

Many have argued that it's the human’s ability to manipulate objects with our hands, plus our capacity for violence and greed, that has propelled us to the point of dominance, not our capacity for intelligence. Where other animals find harmony with their environment, we upset the balance of things. It gives us an edge in terms of species dominance, but it does not mean we are actually more intelligent or have more powerful cognition. 

But how does all this relate to humpback whales saving other animals?

All this is speculative, we cannot define the IQ of a whale. However, the evidence does suggest that they are capable of thinking beyond input and output, in ways as complex -- if not more so -- than a human. Humpback whales have powerful cognition that enables them to make choices, as well as having emotional responses that allow for experiences such as empathy. 

The ability to be empathic is important here.

Whales have been shown to recognise each other. They even form friendships. This situational and social awareness means that when approaching a killer whale hunt situation, humpbacks may know that the orca prey is not a humpback whale. 

The response to orca attacks may well be to rush to the aid of a potentially at-risk humpback, but upon arrival, there is also a chance the whales become aware that the prey is not another humpback whale but they still choose to help anyway. 

Given what we know about the cognitive power of humpback whales, could this be an act of selflessness? 

The answer may still be no, but it’s not implausible to think that these animals are facing a more complex thought process than simply responding to noise, based on their cognitive abilities. 

Could humpback whales be saving other animals because they’re empathetic and don’t want to witness or allow the suffering of prey? It’s not what we see typically in wild animals, but whales are known to be more complex than most wild species.

It is acknowledged that Cetacea are actually far more intelligent than we may have once thought. 

A minke whale is known to have 12.8 billion neocortical neurons. The more neurons a brain has in its cerebral cortex (neocortical neurons) the more capable it is of higher forms of thinking such as decision-making and thought processing, paying attention, memory recollection and perception of the world around it. 

Compared to the minke, monkeys have around 1 billion neocortical neurons, while humans have around 16 billion. 

This is when we start to run into complicated science, so we’ll avoid going deeper, but the evidence above clearly shows that the distance between human cognitive ability and whale cognitive ability is likely a much narrower gap than many might suppose. Therefore, a whale may well be capable of consciously saving another animal, just as we as humans do -- such as our efforts to save the whales or free whales and dolphins from captivity. 

Will We Ever Know What is Really Happening?

The answer to this question might not be what you’d expect.

Scientific researchers are about to undertake a study in which they are attempting to learn the language of sperm whales. By using AI technology, they’re going to record sounds and communications between whales and analyse them for patterns, hoping to figure out what happens before, during or after certain vocalisations and therefore, what these vocalisations mean. Do whales make certain sounds when the weather is rough, or when they decide to rest? Can they say they are full, or hungry, or tell other whales to go away? 

If they succeed, the implications could be widespread for understanding many wildlife behaviours, including humpback whales saving other animals. 

The alternative way to find out is to find a whale that is not very empathetic. If they were to approach a scene, believing that killer whales were attacking a humpback, only to discover it was a seal and then leave the situation without response, then we’d know this is a choice and not an instinctual act without any form of decision-making process. 

But right now, we just don’t know. 

The scientific explanation described by Dr Robert Pitman is very credible and plausible, and the team at Xplore Our Planet are eager to emphasize that this article does not exist to cast doubt on this theory, but instead continue a fascinating discussion. The fact of the matter is the just because whales have the ability to think in complex ways, that does not mean that they do.

Time could tell what the humpback whales are doing, or it could remain a mystery. Whatever is happening, this activity is perhaps one of the most engrossing acts of inter-species community witnessed anywhere in the wild.