Short Presentation Australian Marine Sciences Association 2026 Conference

Well being or harassment? - Assessing social interactions between baleen whales and dolphins (136496)

Olaf Meynecke 1 , Olivia Crawley 1
  1. Whales and Climate Research Program, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia

 

The dynamics and factors influencing interspecies interactions in the wild are not well understood, particularly among social marine animal species such as mysticetes and delphinadae. Baleen whales and various dolphin species have been observed interacting in ways that appear to involve foraging, agonistic and affiliative behavior. Interspecific social interaction might be more common than previously known. With increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and social media reports for cetaceans, interspecies interactions can be examined. Here, we describe instances of baleen whale and dolphin interaction involving 19 species in 199 separate and unrelated events documented by videos and photographs. The most common whale-dolphin interaction involves dolphins swimming near the whale’s rostrum, akin to bow riding. Most observed behaviors can be described as mutual or one-sided playful interactions by dolphins. Understanding whale and dolphin interactions provides insight into their complex social structures and the potential effects of environmental changes on their behavior.