Study
Network-Based Diffusion Analysis Reveals Cultural Transmission of Lobtail Feeding in Humpback Whales
Allen, J.; Weinrich, M.; Hoppitt, W.; Rendell, L.
Science, 2013
Twenty-seven years of sightings of individually identified humpbacks on a feeding ground were analysed to test whether a novel feeding technique spread along the network of which whales associated with which others, rather than at random or by individual discovery.
- Studied in
- Megaptera novaeangliae
- Sample size
- 653 individually identified whales observed over 27 years
A new technique — striking the surface with the tail before diving to feed — spread through the population in a pattern that followed the social network closely, appearing first in animals that associated with whales already using it.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The spread of lobtail feeding is best explained by social transmission along association networks.
How NatureHQ reads it
The methodological advance worth noting is that this is culture demonstrated statistically rather than argued for by elimination. If a behaviour spreads by learning, it should appear earlier in animals that spend time with animals that already do it — and that prediction can be tested against twenty-seven years of who was seen with whom. It survived the test. This is a stronger form of evidence than the chimpanzee comparison, and it is available only where somebody has kept identification records for decades.
- Association at the surface is a proxy for the opportunity to observe, and an imperfect one.
- The technique’s spread coincided with a change in prey availability, which the analysis controls for but cannot remove.
- What exactly is learned — the whole technique or a component of it — is unknown.
Twenty-seven years of photographs, and a new way to catch fish
When a new behaviour appears in a wild population, is it spreading by learning, or is everybody working it out separately?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Animal culture
Behaviours can spread through a wild population by copying and persist as local traditions — and this has been produced deliberately in an experiment, not only inferred.
Humpback whale
A new way of feeding appeared in one humpback and spread through the population along the lines of who spent time with whom.
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of SciencePublished in Science or Science Advances (AAAS).
doi.org/10.1126/science.1231976
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-31.