In several hours of underwater video footage from the New York Aquarium, a beluga whale named Natasha stretches her neck, pirouettes, nods and shakes her head in front of a two-way mirror. His daughter Maris does the same. According to a new study published PLoS Oneboth animals show behavioral signs of mirror self-recognition—a cognitive ability long thought to be indicative of self-awareness and never previously documented in beluga whales.
If the results hold, belugas join a pretty short list. The mirror self-recognition test (MSR) has been passed with varying degrees of confidence by humans (starting around age two), a handful of great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and somewhat controversially, gorillas). Asian elephants, bottlenose dolphinsprobably magpiesmaybe orcasand, if you believe, a cleaner. that’s it. No dogs, no cats, no monkeys. Many types of what we assume is self-recognition have been tried and failed.
Looking in the mirror
But what exactly is this test and what does it tell us?
Here’s the procedure: While the animal isn’t looking, the researchers place a marker where it can only see by reflection. A mirror is then placed in front of the animal while the researchers observe. If the animal touches the mark or looks back at it, it realizes that the image in the mirror is itself. The test is intuitive and easy to perform, and almost no types fail.
Why is this a test of self-awareness in the first place? A logic that goes back to psychologist Gordon Gallup (who invented the test in 1970), to use the mirror as a tool to examine your own body, you must mentally represent yourself as a different entity. A piece of silver glass can open many doors of understanding in this statement.
