Despite our perceived differences, experts and animal lovers have long been interested in the surprising similarities between human and animal behaviour. These parallels which range from social behaviour to cognitive ability, have significant consequences for understanding animal welfare, conserving and our own place in the world.
Paying close attention to the Netflix documentary, ‘My Octopus Teacher’ in 2020, this article will highlight the mysteries and complexities of marine animals and how their behaviour reflects our own.
Social Behaviour
Many species in the animal kingdom are known to display signs of being social. The biggest example is how lions don’t live alone but instead form a pride which mainly consists of three males and can have up to a dozen of females, along with their young. Lions are known to be the world’s most social felines since they hunt together and the adult lions make sure they teach their offspring how to hunt and fend for themselves. In terms of marine animals, dolphins are the lions of the water. Just like how lions live in prides, dolphins form ‘pods’ which can contain up to 40 dolphins or over 1,000 dolphins if there is an abundant food source which causes them to form ‘super-pods’. Pods help dolphins mate, defend themselves and assure safety when hunting in numbers.
Emotion
In the animal kingdom, Elephants are known to have incredible memories, hence the saying; ‘To have a memory like an elephant’. They are also extremely emotional animals and are known to mourn if one of their herd members has died. However, in the ocean, Orcas (also known as Killer Whales) tend to show extreme levels of emotion. Like humans, orcas spend their entire lives with their families, teaching their offspring crucial life lessons such as hunting and identifying threats. Despite their branded name as killers, orcas are actually shown to be very friendly with humans. There have been several cases where orcas have encountered humans and gravitated towards them which will result in them playing games with us. This could be linked to the size of an orca’s brain which is up to four times bigger than a human’s brain which allows them to freely express curious and playful behaviours.
Cognitive abilities
As mentioned above, Elephants again show signs of cognitive abilities with their outstanding memories but there is another animal that possesses magnificent abilities as well as impressive cognitive abilities. The octopus is a species of cephalopod, meaning that it has no feet, and ‘its head is its most prominent feature.’ The octopus is capable of making eye contact with a human and reaching out its tentacle to observe if there is an object in their hand. Their intellect does not stop there and this was proved when an octopus named Inky managed to escape an aquarium in New Zealand by squeezing his body through a narrow pipe which lead to the ocean. Octopuses are able to fit their bodies through tight crevices,
cracks, or holes. Inky managed to remove the lid that was containing him and crawled on the floor to get to the pipes which leads to another skill octopuses possess. As also shown in the 2020 documentary ‘My Octopus Teacher’, octopuses are very skilled when it comes to problem-solving. Scientific studies have shown that they are able to navigate their way through mazes and remember the solutions to the problems they solve.
In addition, octopuses use their cognitive abilities to help them survive in the wild. By using the material and equipment around them, they conceal their homes and avoid being spotted by predators.
Aggression
It is pretty fair to say that most animals do not find it difficult to show aggression since they are constantly faced with reasons to be aggressive, from predators trying to hunt them to humans interfering with them. The common signs of aggression are usually firm stances to intimidate or threatening growls and other noises but with the octopus, it shows off its heightened emotional expressiveness by changing its colour and even its skin texture. This is very interesting since it could be compared to how humans turn red when faced with certain feelings. Click here to see an octopus change colour The 2020 Netflix documentary ‘My Octopus Teacher’ displays a greater insight into octopuses and how they live. It involves a man named Craig Foster who started free-diving in False Bay in a remote location that had a forest full of kelp. He then found a female octopus and from there formed a relationship with the octopus. He observed how she slept and ate as well as how she defended herself from predators such as the pyjama shark.
The octopus showed signs of creativity and sharp survival instincts by attaching itself to the back of the shark that attacked. Later on, the octopus continued to live its normal life and ended up dying naturally. Animal lover Ollie Hadden watched the documentary and described it as ‘phenomenal’ as well as ‘heart-warming, watching humanity and nature together.’
Cultural behaviour
Certain organisms, like humans, have created distinct cultural behaviours in their groups which involve customs that have been passed down through generations. An example of this is how pods of dolphins use clicks and whistles to communicate with one another. It is important to note that each click and whistle is distinctive to their social group. Dolphins click to sense the environment around them through echolocations, the same as how a bat navigates itself in a cave when it is pitch black. When talking about culture, it can also be viewed as the specific behaviour of dolphins and how their behaviour never changes and has always stayed the same over generations.
The animal kingdom is full of wonders and is still yet to be explored but in terms of animal behaviour, we humans are constantly learning more about their habits and behaviour. Marine biologist Andres talks about how ‘humanity can gain some insight into the underlying mechanisms of our own behaviour and of our thought processes.’
Learning from animals can help us learn more about ourselves.