to the study published May 20<\/a>, the whales appeared to study their reflections closely, blowing bubbles, performing barrel rolls and examining features such as their faces and teeth \u2014 behaviours scientists say are consistent with self-recognition.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/JET_SKI_GRAY_WHALE_VANCOUVER_STANLEY_PARK_YTS_thumbnail_720x1280_.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t0:35
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe moment a jet ski strikes a gray whale off Vancouver\u2019s Stanley Park\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s where the light bulb seems to go on when they figure it out that\u2019s me,\u201d said Diana Reiss, a marine mammal scientist and cognitive psychologist based in New York.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
Reiss said scientists do not fully understand what drives this ability, but it appears to be linked to traits such as having a large brain relative to body size.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/national.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.<\/p>\n
Self-recognition has been observed in only a select group of animals, including bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants, magpies and great apes.<\/p>\n
Scientists say the ability is typically found in species that are highly intelligent, social and capable of empathy, including humans.<\/p>\n
The findings come as no surprise to Valeria Vergara, a British Columbia-based whale biologist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAT_WHALE_SITE_THUMB_180426.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:40
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhale stranded near Germany, private team working to rescue 12-tonne mammal\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tMore on Environment
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we sort of uncover a new dimension of beluga cognition or social complexity, it raises the stakes for what we stand to lose if we don\u2019t protect them,\u201d she told Global News.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
Canada is home to some of the largest beluga populations, including in the St. Lawrence River, where they are endangered.<\/p>\n
Vergara said threats such as ocean noise pollution can interfere with the whales\u2019 communication systems, which are key to their complex social structures.<\/p>\n
Researchers say a better understanding of animal cognition could encourage greater efforts to protect vulnerable species.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/web_6P_WHALE_DOLPHIN.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRare footage shows dolphins helping orcas hunt off B.C. coast\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n
\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Descrease article font size Increase article font size A new study suggests beluga whales may be capable of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,176594,2065,75,128,338,1720],"class_list":["post-712900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beluga-whales","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-wildlife","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/70c8fc80.png\")
<\/p>\n