# Any whale experts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864 "2014-09-08T14:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/1 "2014-09-08T14:11:36Z")
There’s a vidio of a Beluga Whale opening it’s mouth toward a bunch of giggling kids. Some people say it’s aggression,not play. I’m sorry I can’t put the vidio on here,I just don’t know how. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/2 "2014-09-08T14:44:23Z")
I know the one you mean. Aggression? Maybe. Could be he’s yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. I wouldn’t blame him. Little bastards are annoying to deal with all day. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/3 "2014-09-08T15:36:42Z")
There was another short [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17666390) on this a few weeks ago: > [@Any Cetacean Behavior Experts/Marine Biologists In The House?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cetacean-behavior-experts-marine-biologists-in-the-house/696302/5): > > According to what sounds like one of the caretakers in this video, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVOjmX1J70Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVOjmX1J70Y), his name is Juno (it’s a ‘he’) and it is an aggressive, territorial display of dominance called “jaw popping”. > > ETA: > > Got to be a completely unbiased account if even the handlers are calling it aggression. If the handler was saying “oh, he just loves to play with all the guests”, then I’d say we had competing views from two biased sources. But it looks like the experts on both sides of the “whale captivity” debate agree that it is aggressive behavior. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/4 "2014-09-08T15:44:46Z")
Well, who’s going to argue with a whale? ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/5 "2014-09-08T16:07:09Z")
Thank you,I knew someone on here would know. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/6 "2014-09-08T19:14:10Z")
Is anyone here a marine biologist? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/7 "2014-09-08T19:23:11Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Is anyone here a marine biologist? I always wanted to pretend to be a marine biologist. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/8 "2014-09-08T19:53:16Z")
Or an Architect? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/9 "2014-09-08T19:57:43Z")
Isn’t an architect just an art school dropout with a tilting desk and a big ruler? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/10 "2014-09-08T20:08:30Z")
He is engaged in aggressive play, like king of the mountain like it says in the video. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/11 "2014-09-08T20:14:21Z")
Is that a Titleist? As someone with an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology, I say go with a [biodegradable golf ball](http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/ecobioball-is-a-100-biodegradable-golf-ball-that-has-a-core-of-fish-food). ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/12 "2014-09-08T20:52:12Z")
I own a marine aquarium. . . I don’t have any mammals but many marine tropical fish species do that. I have a large [rabbitfish](http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g122/danielbui23/414001_10150497644282071_829217070_8662554_1461374044_o.jpg) and he’ll flash his poisonous top fins when I’m around, basically saying “don’t grab me!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/13 "2014-09-08T21:00:11Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Is anyone here a marine biologist? That’s what my degree is in, but I dont actively practice. I am just a bureaucrat. Looks aggressive to me or perhaps just assertive. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/14 "2014-09-08T23:06:56Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Is anyone here a marine biologist? Yes, I have a master’s in marine biology and am a working marine biologist, but I can’t offer any opinion on the subject of the thread. Even though I do observe a lot of whales, I work outside the range of belugas, and am therefore not qualified to comment on their behavior. In addition to that, the vast majority of toothed whale (read to include dolphins & porpoises, and the beluga) behavior observations are made from the surface. So the various dolphins & porpoises I do see on a regular basis could be exhibiting the same behavior seen in the video all the time, and I’d never know it unless it could be seen from the surface. When I do look for aggressive behavior in the wild, I’m looking at animals in motion, and their speed and position relative to other animals (just a couple months ago I saw a pod of Risso’s dolphins mobbing a humpback whale: definitely aggressive behavior, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you if their mouths were open or closed.) Your best bet for a good answer to this thread is someone who has spent a lot of time with toothed whales in captivity, perhaps at an aquarium, ocean park, or captive research facility of some sort. It is possible that some Dopers have that expertise… **CannyDan** comes to mind as someone who I think has worked [here](http://www.dolphins.org/) or somewhere similar - apologies in advance if I’m mistaken, **CannyDan**. Someone on the SDMB has, at least. They’re a better bet for analyzing this behavior. 90% of marine biologists like myself will just have to shrug because of the way we observe animals (usually in the wild.) ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/15 "2014-09-08T23:13:38Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Isn’t an architect just an art school dropout with a tilting desk and a big ruler? Ah, but does he have a parking space? ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whale-experts/697864/16 "2014-09-09T01:03:34Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Is anyone here a marine biologist? I immediately thought of George too on Seinfeld with this thread title and was wondering how long this thread would go before someone referenced it. 🙂