orcas might be getting smarter as they show frightening new behaviours
The whale species, commonly known as killer whales, is an apex predator that has learned to adapt its hunting methods to a variety of different prey
In March 2019, researchers were stunned when they witnessed the first documented case of a pod of orcas working as a team to kill one of the largest animals on the planet, a blue whale.
The gruesome incident took place on the coast of southwestern Australia as experts watched as a dozen orcas bit chunks out of the adult blue whale, slowly wearing it down until it finally died an hour later.
While it may have been the first recorded case, it has not been the last.
Additionally, a small population of orcas on the coast of Spain and Portugal have become fans of ramming and damaging boats, sometimes causing enough destruction to sink them. Elsewhere, orcas have been seen abducting baby pilot whales and tearing the livers out of sharks that later wash up on shore.
Deborah Giles, an orca researcher at the University of Washington and the nonprofit Wild Orca explained to Live Science:
“These are animals with an incredibly complex and highly evolved brain. They’ve got parts of their brain that are associated with memory and emotion that are significantly more developed than even in the human brain.”
But, while the actual anatomy of the animals’ brains hasn’t changed, their ability to learn is what is making orcas smarter than ever before.
They implement what is known as social learning, where younger members of the pods observe and learn hunting methods from the adults, particularly the dominant matriarch, who themselves, are always learning.
Josh McInnes, a marine ecologist at the University of British Columbia, explained:
“This behaviour may be being shared between individuals, and that’s maybe why we’re seeing an increase in some of these mortality events.”
But, while experts think they are getting smarter, they also think it may be leading to the breakup of large pods of orcas.
Michael Weiss, a behavioural ecologist and research director at the Center for Whale Research in Washington state, said:
“Their social bonds get weaker because you can’t be in a big partying killer whale group if you’re all hungry and trying to search for food.”
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Header image: BBC Wildlife Magazine
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Tom
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Most things not man are smarter than man. They have to learn how to survive the insanity that man brings to their planet. The animals and others were here first before man, yet man has not learned how to live with them or even himself.
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MattH
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An extended family of orca intentionally sinking yachts need to be eliminated.
Maybe they are agents of the WEF.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi MattH,
This comment has nothing directly to do with the specific topic of this article but certainly has to due with variable natural phenomena–specifically weather. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, some time ago wrote: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence,; it biases the judgment.” and The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the ban or our profession.”
This morning Wildfire Today reported about a uncontrolled wildfire in southern California.
This comment is to alert you and other readers about (https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/) where data, at Vista Grande has only been measured and reported since 2008.. If one scans the precipitation data for the months July, August, September, and October you might be surprised how variable the monthly precipitation was from year to year and was not available at this location before 2008. .And you can see how many nearby locations similar data is available for comparison purposes.
Have a good day.
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