Young Belugas Diversify Adult Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Behavior

Learning to play: A review and theoretical investigation of the developmental mechanisms and functions of cetacean play

“…Calf-initiated tactile interactions with mothers; pair swims, chases with other young conspecifics (Hill, 2009;Hill et al, 2013;Hill & Ramirez, 2014;Mann & Smuts, 1999) Cooperative Supplementary: Turn taking, coordination, or reciprocal behaviors (Félix, 2015;Paulos et al, 2010) Complex Social Play: Reciprocal aggressive behaviors, surfing one another off of shallow raised areas, reciprocal socio-sexual interactions, and pushing and manipulating objects too large for a single calf (e.g., Hill, Guarino, et al, 2015;Hill & Ramirez, 2014) Complex Play: Object play, social games (Hill et al, 2016;Thieltges et al, 2011); object permanence (Jaakkola et al, 2010;Johnson et al, 2015); attributions, theory of mind (Kuczaj et al, 2001;Pack & Herman, 2004;Tschudin, 2001) Pretense: Anecdotal evidence only (e.g., Tayler & Saayman, 1973) Table descriptions are derived from Piaget (1951), Parten (1932), Fagen (1995), and Mitchell (1990). Please see the original sources for additional explanation if you are interested.…”

“…Evidence for this hypothesis has come from several sources. In managed care, the behavioral repertoires of adult belugas were diversified when beluga calves were present (Hill, Guarino, Crandall, Lenhart, & Dietrich, 2015). In the natural habitat, a population of dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, developed 13 distinct foraging strategies, possibly in response to changing environmental pressures (Sargeant & Mann, 2009).…”

“…Perhaps, more simply, older animals are influenced to engage in more playful behavior due to the observation of young animals engaging in highly arousing, energetic actions. Research with dolphins and belugas in managed care suggests that the presence of younger animals increases the amounts of object play and social play exhibited by adult animals (Hill, Guarino, et al, 2015;Hill & Ramirez, 2014;.…”

Providing Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in Controlled Environments Opportunities to Thrive: Health, Self-Maintenance, Species-Specific Behavior, and Choice and Control

“…Results illustrated that dynamic social groupings decreased time spent swimming alone and provided opportunities for species-specific behavior, such as engaging with the environment whether it was interacting with different objects (e.g., enrichment devices, permanent fixtures, organic materials, or water) or with each other (Hill and Ramirez, 2014; Hill et al, 2015b, 2018b). Pool configuration also influenced the actions of the belugas (unpublished data).…”

You're Not in Kansas Anymore: How Grad School Is Different From Undergrad

“…Social and socio-sexual interactions, and play activities are among the most common behaviors that the SWSA belugas display, and the composition of the social group seem to play a role in the frequency and diversity of the activities. A study about the role of calves on the behavioral repertoire of older belugas indicated that the presence of calves creates a more enriched and stimulating environment for the social groups (Hill, Guarino, Crandall, Lenhart, & Dietrich, 2015).…”