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https://theconversation.com/playful-whales-can-use-seaweed-as-a-hat-or-exfoliant-this-kelping-behaviour-is-more-common-than-we-realised-214269>
"If you’re a whale, there’s often not too much to see out in deeper water.
Perhaps that’s why so many whales get playful with kelp and other seaweed.
Once might have been chance. But we’ve collected over 100 examples on social
media of whales playing with seaweed, known as “kelping”. It’s not just one
species – gray whales, southern and northern right whales, and humpback whales
all do it.
To date, there’s far more social media and news reports on whale play with
seaweed than scientific literature. A 2011 study in New South Wales described
these interactions as playful behaviour. Other researchers have documented
instances of whales moving logs through the water in Colombia or interacting
with jellyfish on the United States east coast.
Our new research compiles data from over 100 kelping events captured on social
media. From this, we deduced two things. First, it is playful. And second, it’s
likely to have a useful component, such as using the seaweed to scratch an itch
(hard without hands), brush off baby barnacles, or flick away whale lice –
parasites that drive the whales mad."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
