After launching the Indian Ocean Marine Life Foundation (IOMLF) at the end of March, and the film Cachalots, une affaire de famille, director René Heuzey and oceanographer François Sarano presented at the end of April what Irène Gueule Tordue’s clan has taught them…
For ten years, the founders of the IOMLF have been studying the Irène Gueule Tordue clan, with its 17 females and 11 immatures, shedding light on the interactions of these socially intelligent mammals. Discreetly observing them underwater, the scientists drew up an identity card for each member and recorded births and deaths, based on visual recognition and genetic analysis of the dead skin they shed naturally. The complete family tree of the entire clan reveals family interactions, the loyalty of the males and the role of the breast-feeding nannies when the mother is away, and of the childminder Germine who looks after the entire nursery…
Another new feature is the Jason recorder developed by CNRS acoustician Hervé Glotin, which opens up a new field of research by analyzing sounds to within a millionth of a second. Made up of more or less rapid successions of clicks, sound expressions evolve according to age and sex.
Studying them literally allows us to enter into their intimacy: to see that a large male is conversing with the young in a circle around his head, thatso-and-so is asking for a feed, or thatso-and-so is friends with another… This year, clicks will replace the eyes of researchers in the abysses, to retrace the hunting trajectories of each individual, the search times by echolocation, the number of prey, etc. The team is also working on the sound identity of each clan. The team is also working on the sound identity of each clan…