Hobbies And Interests
History
It is unknown just why the term "pod" began being used for a group of whales or dolphins. The word "pod" has been in English since 1680 or 1690 and referred to long seed holders that many plants grow. One theory is that, because of how a pod of whales swim together, they looked like peas in a pod to English and American whalers. But the actual reason why the word "pod" became associated with whales has been lost in time. School has been the accepted term of a group of fish for centuries and whales were once thought to be fish, so sometimes they were given the same term "school" as a group of fish. Some whalers called a pod of over a dozen animals a "school" and those under a dozen a "pod."
Function
Most whale pods are made up of family groups. During mating season, many males will surround a female in season, making a temporary pod. Dolphins and toothed whales need to stay in pods in order to successfully hunt their prey in teams. Most species of whales and dolphins also thrive in the company of their own kind. Some species, like the blue whale, prefer to travel alone.
Significance
By finding one whale, whalers were sure that others were around, because of their tendency to travel together. Harvesting whales was then like shelling peas from a pod. This also made whales easier to hunt. Since whales can stay underwater for nearly an hour at a time, whalers could often sail right over whale pods. Commercial and scientific whalers still take advantage of this tendency of whales to travel together.
Identification
Pods of whales are much harder to spot than pods of dolphins, because most large whales lack dorsal fins. They are also colored in shades of white, blue, gray or black to help blend in with the water. The only way to spot them then is to either use sonar or to constantly scan the ocean surface for the tell-tale spout a whale makes when surfacing.
Types
Many pods consist of just two whales--a female and her calf. Some pods have been reported as large as 50 individuals, in the case of bowhead whales. Generally, the smaller the whale species, the more individuals in the pod. Bottlenose whales (not to be confused with bottlenose dolphins) have pods called grinds. Some species of whales, like humpback whales, only form temporary pods for mating or making bubble nests for their prey.