# How intelligent are whales?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intelligent-are-whales/146056>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 1, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intelligent-are-whales/146056 "2003-01-01T17:12:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intelligent-are-whales/146056/1 "2003-01-01T17:12:19Z")

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How intelligent are whales compared to humans? Or compared to other animals? Is there any meaningful measure of whale intelligence? How complex or meaningful is their language?

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**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intelligent-are-whales/146056/2 "2003-01-01T18:50:22Z")

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Well, if this [film](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0092007) is to be believed, humpbacks are intelligent enough to communicate with extraterrestial intelligences, which is more than we’ve been able to do so far.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-intelligent-are-whales/146056/3 "2003-01-01T19:28:55Z")

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[Whale Intelligence and Behaviour - Facts and Myths](http://www.highnorth.no/Library/Myths/Cont-win.htm)

The site this list of links comes form is not of a “whales are like humans” bent. It’s more of a “whales are like very smart tuna” orientation.