I'm not so sure of that. The smarter whales in general are quite capable of experimenting, learning useful behaviors, and teaching them to their friends and children.
It's not as uncommon as you might think. There's crows that have learned to crack walnuts by shoving them under car wheels at stop lights, and they actually watch the lights, not just the cars, to tell when it's safe to walk in the street. It's not genetic; newly-introduced crows pick up the behavior from watching the existing flock.
It's not as uncommon as you might think. There's crows that have learned to crack walnuts by shoving them under car wheels at stop lights, and they actually watch the lights, not just the cars, to tell when it's safe to walk in the street. It's not genetic; newly-introduced crows pick up the behavior from watching the existing flock.