Preliminary observations of an unusual mouth interaction between beluga calves (Delphinapterus leucas)

Abstract

Although many animals, including odontocetes, exhibit interactions involving mouths (e.g., mouthing, nuzzling, biting), a limited number of animals display mouth‐to‐mouth social interactions that involve mutual coordination and collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly a spontaneous and unexpected mouth‐to‐mouth social interaction between beluga calves in human care during their first year of life. Forty‐seven independent events were identified after event sampling from more than 345 hr of observations of four mother‐calf pairs and their companions. Unique aspects of this behavior included early emergence presumably without the benefit of a model and a preference for similar aged partners. Adult belugas did not display this social interaction. Based on its early emergence, the presence of similar‐aged partner preferences, and affiliative cooperative contexts, this unusual mouth‐to‐mouth social interaction may play a significant role in beluga social and physical development. To evaluate this possibility, additional research is needed in which the complete topography, possible functions, and potential outcomes associated with this rare but conspicuous behavior exhibited by beluga calves are assessed.

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

“…The behavior and social interactions of a relatively stable white whale, or beluga ( Delphinapterus leucas ) population at a North American facility has been studied systematically since 2007. From long-term weekly documentation calf behavioral development and maternal care, behavioral milestones, such as nursing, swim positions, locomotor development, social interactions, and play behaviors have been established and validated with belugas from other facilities and in their natural habitat (Krasnova et al, 2006, 2009; Hill, 2009; Karenina et al, 2010, 2013; Hill et al, 2013, 2018a; Hill and Campbell, 2014; Hill and Ramirez, 2014). Maternal care behaviors are conserved across both habitats (Krasnova et al, 2006, 2009; Hill, 2009; Karenina et al, 2010, 2013; Hill et al, 2013, 2017), but show individual variation much like bottlenose dolphins in human care or the wild (Hill et al, 2007; Gibson and Mann, 2008; Stanton and Mann, 2012).…”

Synergy between behavioural research on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) conducted in zoological and wild settings

“…More detailed studies in captivity have expanded upon those observations and add to the growing evidence for certain types of social play, such as mouth-to-mouth social play (Hill, Dietrich et al 2019). Hill & Ramirez (2014) demonstrated that in addition to calves and juveniles, adult belugas also engaged in play behaviours; males engaged in more play bouts and a higher percentage of locomotor play activities.…”

Playful mouth‐to‐mouth interactions of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in managed care

“…MtMIs were identified according to the T A B L E 1 Demographics on juvenile belugas followed in this study. description provided by Hill et al (2019). All the MtMIs were considered to be a type of play fighting, rather than aggression, as they satisfied Smith's (1997) criteria for distinguishing play fighting from serious fighting.…”

“…social preference in sexual play is true of other forms of social play in belugas, a detailed investigation of MtMIs was conducted. As an exploratory descriptive study of mouth-to-mouth play behaviors in a group of belugas observed over a 12-year study period, this study expanded on the initial report by Hill et al (2019). We explored the frequency of behaviors, age and sex biases, partner preferences, seasonality and correlation with social behavior, and the developmental time course to better understand the possible functions of MtMIs.…”