Scientists from Flinders University have discovered that an unusual whaling technique, first recorded only in 2011, may have been known in antiquity. Research published in the journal Marine Mammalian Science.
The ancient Greeks and Scandinavians describe a variety of sea creatures of gigantic proportions in their manuscripts and myths. These creatures may actually be whales, the authors of a new study have found.
A Norwegian source describes a huge fish holding its mouth open, and many small fish swimming into its mouth. At the same time, the beast vomited up its bile, using it as bait. This method of hunting humpback whales in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and Bryde’s whales in the Gulf of Thailand was announced in 2011.
At first, scientists decided that the similarity between ancient sources and the 2011 discovery was just a coincidence. But the amount of evidence and the degree of similarity suggest that ancient humans did indeed observe whales hunting in this way. Scientists have also discovered that ancient people could confuse a whale’s penis with a mythical sea snake.
The scientists noted that their discovery sheds light on how long ago whales began using this hunting technique. Today it is incredibly rare and has only been recorded twice, but in the past whales have used it much more often. Scientists’ observation once again confirms the existence of cultural traits in whales. They seem to only use this technique in areas where small fish swim close to the surface or where the fish density is too low to expend energy actively hunting.