A field study of chemical senses in bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales

Abstract

For most marine vertebrates, chemical cues provide crucial information during navigation and foraging, but their use by cetaceans is still poorly understood. In contrast to baleen whales, toothed whales (odontocetes) are scarcely equipped for chemoreception: they lack the conventional anatomical structures (i.e., olfactory epithelium, nerves and bulbs) involved in olfaction and have reduced taste buds on the tongue. Several behavioral studies have however shown that captive dolphins can perceive chemical solutions, including odorants, in their oral cavity. To investigate whether odontocetes could use infochemicals in their foraging ecology, we implemented a behavioral response experiment in wild bottlenose dolphins and long-finned pilot whales. We tested dimethyl sulfide (DMS) as a potentially attractive stimulus since it is a chemical signature of highly productive marine areas, known to attract several marine predators including fishes and seabirds. We assessed cetacean responses to DMS exposure by analyzing their movements and surface behaviors recorded by onboard observers. In both species, results did not reveal any significant attraction or behavioral reaction toward DMS when compared to a control chemical stimulus, apart from a short-distance response in bottlenose dolphins. These results suggest that while odontocetes may perceive DMS in water, it apparently does not play a significant role in their foraging ecology. Testing potentially more attractive compounds such as prey extracts with the present method and analyzing surface, underwater and acoustic responses would provide further insights on odontocete feeding behavior. It would also provide valuable clues to studies on the anatomical structures involved in their chemosenses.