Academic Review 2024

10 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD 2 .

Smartness of the Seas:

An essay comparing and contrasting the intelligence of killer whales ( Orcanus orca ) and common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) By Alex Niblett This essay will analyse the similarities and differences of intelligence between killer whales ( Orcanus orca ) and common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ). Both these species have the characteristics of highly intelligent animals, noticeable by the ease at which they can learn simple tricks in captivity. However, this intelligence is much more complex than it seems and scientists have still to understand it fully.

Introduction

For this essay, Professor Thomas White’s definition of intelligence will be used for its succinctness and relevance to not just an organism’s specific features but also to its environmental pressures: ‘The challenges that need to be met simply to stay alive are significantly different on the land and in the water. We should think about intelligence as the intellectual and emotional abilities that make it possible for a species to survive in their environment and to solve the problems and overcome the challenges that life throws at them’ (OrcaNation, 2019). Another feature which helps to develop the comparison and to contrast intelligence is a phenomenon called swarm intelligence: ‘Sophisticated collective intelligence’ (Bonabeau, 1999). Swarm intelligence is the ‘problem-solving

Intelligence and how it presents in species other than humans has always been of interest to me. Wildlife documentaries often explore learning. For example, I have seen orangutans using saws after watching humans use them and these instances in programmes have influenced my essay choice. Marine animals interest me in particular. Killer whales and common bottlenose dolphins are both cetaceans, classified in the order Odontoceti and the same family, Delphinidae (Klinowska, 1991). Therefore, becomes more straightforward, yet not trouble-free because they are still vastly dissimilar, from their behaviour to their environment and this is why I chose to study them. they are both technically dolphins, so comparing them to each other