Clever Whales Bait Gulls With Fish

[Casshew]

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <oocumentProperties> <o:Author>Ker Than</o:Author> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:LastAuthor>Ker Than</o:LastAuthor> <o:Revision>3</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>9</o:TotalTime> <o:Created>2005-09-02T13:01:00Z</o:Created> <o:LastSaved>2005-09-02T14:13:00Z</o:LastSaved> <oages>1</oages> <o:Words>318</o:Words> <o:Characters>1817</o:Characters> <o:Company>Space Holdings</o:Company> <o:Lines>15</o:Lines> <oaragraphs>3</oaragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>2231</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>9.2720</o:Version> </oocumentProperties> </xml><![endif]--> NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) -- An enterprising young killer whale at Marineland has figured out how to use fish as bait to catch seagulls -- and shared his strategy with his fellow whales. <o =""></o>

Michael Noonan, a professor of animal behavior at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., made the discovery by accident while studying orca acoustics. <o =""></o>

“One day I noticed one of the young whales appeared to have come up with a procedure for luring gulls down to the pool,'' the professor said. “I found it interesting so I noted it in my log.'' <o =""></o>

First, the young whale spit regurgitated fish onto the surface of the water, then sank below the water and waited. <o =""></o>

If a hungry gull landed on the water, the whale would surge up to the surface, sometimes catching a free meal of his own. <o =""></o>

Noonan watched as the same whale set the same trap again and again. <o =""></o>

Within a few months, the whale's younger half brother adopted the practice. Eventually the behavior spread and now five Marineland whales supplement their diet with fresh fowl, the scientist said. <o =""></o>

“It looked liked one was watching while the other tried,'' Noonan said of the whale's initial behavior. <o =""></o>

The capacity to come up with the gull-baiting strategy and then share the technique with others -- known as cultural learning in the scientific world -- was once believed to be one of those abilities that separated humans from other animals. <o =""></o>

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050902_whalebait.html

 

[Magnum PI]

Were these Orcas that were seagull eating? I didn't know anything would eat a gull..these whales should know to kill a seagull is bad luck also...mpi