In their second session with a mirror, a juvenile beluga named Maris pulled up close to the glass and started blowing bubbles from her blowhole, then biting them as they floated upward. Bubble biting is a common beluga play behavior, but this time, she appeared to be doing it while watching herself. When she eventually swam off, her mother, Natasha moved in and did the same thing.
The two were among four beluga whales at the New York Aquarium given access to a large underwater mirror as part of a study now published in PLOS ONE. Their behavior suggests that belugas can recognize themselves in a mirror, joining chimpanzees, bottlenose dolphins, elephants, and magpies in a club once thought to belong exclusively to humans. But what happened across months of follow-up testing would show just how far that self-awareness went.
“This was the start of both whales showing a rich variety of other forms of self-directed behavior as the study progressed,” senior author Diana Reiss told Discover. “We were intrigued and excited by seeing this as it was an important indicator that they might show other self-directed behaviors as well. And they did!”
How the Beluga Mirror Test Revealed a Sense of Self
The experiment followed the standard mirror self-recognition protocol, with researchers observing how the four whales responded to a two-way plexiglass mirror over dozens of sessions.
Two whales showed little interest, but Natasha and Maris kept returning to the mirror.
In early sessions, the two whales tested the glass, nodding and waggling their heads to see if the reflection moved with them — the animal equivalent of waving at a store security monitor to check if you're the one on screen.
Then came the bubble play, and after that, a growing repertoire of self-directed behaviors, including barrel rolls, neck stretches, and open-mouth poses, all performed in ways that pointed to the whales' understanding they were watching themselves.
“These findings show that belugas demonstrate a high level of self-awareness,” Reiss explained to Discover. “This sense of self which was long thought to be a uniquely human capacity also includes the understanding that the mirror can be used as a tool to view oneself.”
The Whale Who Passed
To confirm self-recognition, researchers gave each whale a mark test, applying a temporary visible mark to a spot on their body they couldn't see without the mirror, then watching to see if they'd seek it out in their reflection.
Natasha passed on her third attempt. After researchers marked the area behind her right ear, she spent more than three minutes repeatedly angling that part of her body toward the glass.
Then she swam to the far side of the pool, picked up a hoop in her mouth, brought it back to the mirror, gave her reflection a slow downward bob of her head, and let it go. Nobody asked her to do that.
What Self-Aware Belugas May Mean for Conservation
Belugas were already remarkable before this study. They live in complex social groups, imitate human speech, and mimic vocal sounds, which is why researchers have referred to them as canaries of the sea. What this study adds is a sense of self behind the song.
“Our own awareness about belugas and dolphins possessing self-awareness will hopefully inspire more empathy for this species and other marine mammal species and a stronger commitment to conservation and welfare policies to protect them and their environments,” Reiss told Discover.
In Cook Inlet, Alaska, roughly 331 belugas remain in waters also eyed for oil and gas activity. Drilling noise can disrupt their communication and foraging, cause permanent hearing loss, and pile onto pressure already building from climate change — all for animals that depend on sound to stay alive.
If Maris and Natasha could see themselves in the mirror, the harder question is whether humans can see them clearly enough to protect them.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from a study published in PLOS ONE: Evidence for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
