Whales pass on good ideas to each other in the same way as humans do, according to scientists.

Researchers found that a new way to fish invented by a humpback whale was spread through all those living in an area of ocean.

The hunting technique was developed after the whales, which are highly intelligent, were hit by a food crisis.

After nearly 30 years, it had spread to 40% of the humpback population off New England in the US.

The whales were forced to find new prey after stocks of their preferred food, herring, were depleted in the early 1980s.

Normally, humpback whales forage for food by blowing bubbles under water to confuse shoals of fish and herd them together.

The bubbles force the fish to congregate in one place, making them easier for the whales to catch.

But in 1980, as the herring stocks reached rock bottom, one whale was spotted feeding in a completely new manner.

The whale slapped the water's surface a few times with the end of its tail and only then dived down to bubble feed.

Scientists believe it was devised to target a particular type of fish that was not part of the whales' familiar diet.

Sand lances, which often live on the sea bed, are plentiful but do not swim constantly in shoals like herring.

It is believed that slapping the water could make the fish leave the sea bed, leaving them vulnerable to the whales.

By 2007, the technique, known as 'lobtail' feeding, had caught on among a significant number of humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine, off the coast of Boston.

Scientists think that the whales are able to show or somehow describe to other whales how to exploit the new technique.

Use of the technique is now concentrated at Stellwagen Bank, where the fish spawn and are especially abundant.

Dr Luke Rendell, one of the researchers from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said: "Our study really shows how vital cultural transmission is in humpback populations.

"Not only do they learn their famous songs from each other, they also learn feeding techniques that allow them to buffer the effects of changing ecology."

The study, which follows 30 years of observations, are published in the latest edition of the journal Science.