In the Caribbean, where two clans of sperm whales exist (in the Pacific, there are five), the most commonly used coda identifies clan and the second most commonly used identifies an individual.
CHIMPANZEE LIFESPAN WILD CODE
Here is a truly astonishing discovery in the annals of animal behavior: "Only in sperm whales and humans do group identities extend so far beyond kin." Within a clan, everyone emits identifying vocalizations called codas Safina likens them to Morse Code bursts that come in rhythmic patterns. Adults hunt for squid in dark sea depths where youngsters cannot yet go when mothers dive deep, aunts and grandmothers babysit.įamilies join together in clans, where most whales are unknown to each other. Unlike humpback or blue whales, they live in stable groups where individuals stay together for decades. It turns out that these whales ("the archetypal whale of human imagination," as in Herman Melville's Moby Dick) find meaning in family and group identity. "How does a whale find meaning in life?" With that pretty cool question, Safina begins with the sperm whales who live near Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, studied by Shane Gero for decades. Combining the knowledge of a seasoned scientist with the skills of a good storyteller, Safina invites us to leave our cultural worlds and enter animals' ones to see just how they work. Joining field researchers as they observe sperm whales in the Caribbean, scarlet macaws in Amazonian Peru, and chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo Forest, Safina explains how we know that many animals make use of that social flow, instead of only instinct or gene encodings. "Culture is information and behavior that flows socially and can be learned, retained, and shared," Safina says. In Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace, ecologist and veteran author Carl Safina writes: "It's as if we are just waking up from a long journey through space and having a look around an interesting new planet."īecoming Wild is Safina's seventh book for adults, and it extends this new awareness of animal intelligence and emotion to questions of animal culture.
How?Īnimals think, feel and learn from each other in complex ways that finally are coming to be recognized. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Becoming Wild Author Carl Safina
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