Whale of a Brain

The humpback whale is known as the gregarious, singing “gentle giant” of the sea. But the herring it inventively preys upon—one whale in a gang blows “air bubble nets” around a school of fish while another screams until the poor things are scared to the surface—would probably disagree with this assessment.In any case, the auditory and communicative behaviors within groups of humpbacks reveal remarkable intelligence. However, since whale specimens are rare—either harvested from beached whales or sick aquarium residents—scientists know only the basics of their brain surface anatomy and are virtually ignorant about what goes on underneath.Read more at...Seed, January 2007.