Culture Club: Birds do it, chimps do it, whales do it: engage in rituals and pass on traditions about how they eat, greet, use tools, even dance.(Science & Technology)

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 26-MAR-01

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In the Gulf of Maine, one group of humpback whales has added its own personal touch to the species' usual "bubble cloud" feeding routine. While other humpbacks exhale mightily underwater in order to envelop schools of prey in clouds of bubbles that confuse the living daylights out of them, humpbacks in this clan also slam their tail flukes onto the ocean's surface, engulfing the prey in a chaos of roiling water. Since one clever humpback launched the tail thing in 1981, the practice has spread to about half the population in the area, as youngsters learn it from their mothers. No other humpbacks on earth have such a tradition. On the other side of the world, a group of killer whales has its own calling card: those around Argentina and Antarctica teach their young to intentionally beach themselves, the better to catch sunbathing seals. And back north, off Vancouver Island, a few pods of killer whales have developed a unique meeting ritual. When one pod encounters another, each lines up in formation for 10 to 30 seconds--and only then, with niceties out of the way, do they approach and mingle. Again, nowhere else do killer whales engage...

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