Beluga whales are known for their round heads, distinctive white, sponge-like faces, and almost permanent smiles. They are among the most intelligent marine mammals, possessing complex communication systems and strong social bonds that distinguish them from most other whale species. However, this ability to display changing facial expressions that other whales can read and understand has never before been tested in front of a mirror.
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A new study recently published in the journal PLOS One indicates that these remarkable marine mammals also possess a degree of self-awareness that exceeds what was previously known, revealing that some of them have the ability to pass the famous mirror test, an achievement that places them among a small and growing group of animals that possess an ability long thought to be the preserve of humans.
“Animals that demonstrate the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror possess an advanced level of consciousness, including the awareness that the image they see in the mirror is of themselves, as well as the understanding that the mirror can be used as a tool for self-monitoring,” said Diana Rice, a marine mammal scientist and professor of cognitive psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York, and one of the study’s authors. She added “to date, only a very limited group of species has demonstrated this ability.”
The mirror test is based on observing the animal's behavior in front of its reflection. While most species treat the reflection as a foreign object, some species begin to use the mirror to view parts of their bodies that they cannot normally see.
For a long time, the prevailing scientific belief was that this ability was limited to humans, until a famous study conducted in 1970 refuted this assumption by proving the chimpanzee's ability to recognize itself in a mirror.
Since then, this behavior has only been documented in a limited number of species, including bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, Eurasian magpies, and cleaner wrasses . Establishing this ability in each species has required years of research and experimentation.
In general, success in self-recognition tests appears to be linked to species that are often highly social and possess high levels of empathy. Humans typically begin to demonstrate this ability around 18 months of age, coinciding with the development of their sense of self.
Rice explains that "most animals capable of recognizing themselves in a mirror exhibit high levels of social awareness and a variety of other cognitive skills across multiple domains. Therefore, this ability has only been recorded in a few species."
Beluga whale experience
Drawing on past experiences, Rice began two decades ago to study the ability to recognize oneself in bottlenose dolphins and Asian elephants, two species with large and complex brains, only to discover that they, too, passed the test.
In 2001, I decided to test this ability in beluga whales, which live in polar and subpolar waters and face many threats, including marine fishing activities, ship traffic, oil and gas exploration, as well as the effects of climate change.
The researcher conducted the study on a group of 4 whales living in the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society. None of them had any prior experience with mirrors or participating in cognitive perception experiments. Among them were 3 adult females named Kathy, Marina, and Natasha, in addition to Maris, Natasha’s daughter, who was 7 years old at the time.
The researchers installed a two-way mirror on one of the common pool windows for two hours at a time, so that the image was reflected on one side and remained transparent on the other, and then installed cameras to record how the whales responded to it.
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