Study claims self-aware whale observation

Alexander Mildener, Diana Buchman, Sonia Ragir and Diana Reiss published a study in PLOS One on May 20 reporting evidence of mirror self-recognition in beluga whales. The paper examined four captive belugas at the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society and found that two of them showed self-directed behavior in front of a mirror. The claim surfaced more broadly on May 24 in a social-media science roundup that referred to a “self-aware whale,” but the underlying study focused specifically on belugas and on a standard mirror test used in animal-cognition research. The authors wrote that the results provide evidence for the “capacity” for mirror self-recognition in the species. ### Which whale study is actually behind the “self-aware whale” claim? PLOS One published “Evidence for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)” on May 20. The authors were Alexander Mildener, Diana Buchman, Sonia Ragir and Diana Reiss, and the work was conducted with a social group of four belugas housed together at the New York Aquarium. ScienceAlert’s weekly roundup published on May 23 described the item as “A Beluga Whale Showed a Sign of Intelligence Once Thought Unique to Humans.” That roundup said a beluga had passed the mirror test and quoted the researchers’ account that “Natasha passed the mark test” by orienting the marked area behind her right ear toward the mirror. (journals.plos.org) ### What did the researchers actually test? (journals.plos.org) The researchers used what the paper called the standard mirror test. The belugas were exposed to a two-way plexiglass mirror and to a transparent control surface during baseline and post-mirror sessions, and the team recorded and analyzed the whales’ responses across those conditions. The paper said two of the four whales — a subadult and her mother — showed a “rich suite” of self-directed behaviors at the mirror. (sciencealert.com) The authors then conducted mark and sham-mark control tests with those two animals. ### Which behaviors counted as evidence? CUNY Graduate Center, which highlighted the study on May 20, said the two whales repeatedly directed behaviors such as neck stretches, bubble bites and barrel rolls toward the mirror. (journals.plos.org) The institution said the adult female, Natasha, later positioned herself in front of the mirror in different ways to inspect temporary marks placed on parts of her body visible only through the reflection. The paper itself was more cautious in its wording. The authors wrote that the self-directed behaviors shown by both whales, along with mark-directed behavior by the adult female, provide evidence for the capacity for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales. ### Does that mean the whale was proven “self-aware”? The study framed mirror self-recognition as behavioral evidence of a high level of self-awareness, not as a final proof of consciousness in the broader philosophical sense. (gc.cuny.edu) PLOS One’s abstract said tests of mirror self-recognition have previously been used as evidence in humans and a short list of other animals including chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants and magpies. (journals.plos.org) Diana Reiss, quoted by CUNY Graduate Center, said mirror self-recognition had long been treated as a uniquely human capacity and that beluga whales now join “a handful of species” showing that capacity. That is the narrower, sourced claim behind the social-media shorthand about a “self-aware whale.” ### Where should readers look next? The full paper remains available through PLOS One under DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0348287, with the underlying study published on May 20. (journals.plos.org) Readers looking for the named animals, methods and authors will find those details in the journal article and in the CUNY Graduate Center summary led by Reiss. (gc.cuny.edu)