Killer whales are among the most successful marine species, occupying the top of the food chain in every ocean. And one of the reasons they’re so successful is simple: they’re very, very smart.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) lead rich and colorful social lives and have learned an incredible variety of hunting strategies to hunt everything from blue whales to great white sharks. Here are 11 examples of intelligence killer whaleThis proves that killer whales are extremely intelligent.

They get carried away by whims.

Killer whales learn to communicate and occasionally indulge in fads, temporary behaviors that are initiated by one or two individuals, adopted by others, and then quickly abandoned. For example, Pacific populations went through a period of wearing salmon as hats in the 1980s. The trend began when a female killer whale carried a dead salmon on her head, and in the following weeks the behavior spread to two other pods in the same community.

According to a review of nonhuman culture published in 2004 in the journal Biological ConservationThe following year, researchers observed killer whales carrying salmon behaving similarly, and they were never seen carrying fish on their heads again. End killer whale attack on boats It may be another example of orca fashion in Europe.

They participate in “congratulation ceremonies”

Killer whales have complex social rituals and even engage in what researchers call “greeting ceremonies.” According to reports, these interactions are equivalent to a killer whale pit, where killer whales line up in two rows and then fall together. Smithsonian Magazine. During one such event, the greeting coincided with the birth. A pod of three killer whales reunited in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the U.S.-Canada border in 2020, and the pregnant female gave birth to a calf as the killer whales whistled and clicked together, National Public Radio KUOW reported. news Center Seattle. The killer whales were not foraging and only appeared to be there to socialize on their birthdays.

They have different dialects

Killer whales live in pods around related mothers and their calves. Each capsule has its own unique sounds, like different dialects of the same language. A species can learn to imitate new sounds, which can help them form these dialects.

Researchers trained a captive female orca named Vicky to imitate human words like “hello” and “goodbye” as well as the cries of some other animals. Vicky learned quickly and was able to make some new sounds on the first try.

They use special hunting strategies

Killer whales learn highly specialized hunting strategies and pass this knowledge on to their offspring. Some killer whales in Argentina beach themselves to capture coastal seals, while other populations in Antarctica create waves to lure seals away from floating sea ice.

And it’s not just seals that learn unique strategies; According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, killer whales are specialist salmon predators in parts of the Pacific Ocean, beaked whale predators off Australia, and ray predators off New Zealand.

They are picky eaters

Some orca populations appear to have learned that shark livers are particularly rich in nutrients and that it is worth killing sharks and discarding their remaining carcasses to access their nutritional organs. Researchers have documented populations of killer whales attacking the livers of a variety of sharks, including great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) near South Africa and predatory whale sharks (Rhincodon type) near Mexico.

Looks like he has friends

A study published in 2021 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that killer whales’ social bonds are comparable to those seen in primates, including humans. Killer whales interact more with certain members of their stage, usually of the same age and sex.

michael weissThe scientific director of the Whale Research Center in Washington State, who led the research, said: Science It’s about two distant relatives of young men who were always together during the research. “Any time you see a group of whales, those two are right there interacting with each other,” Weiss said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to use the word friendship here.”

They look sad

In 2018, researchers observed a female killer whale in pain pushing her dead newborn calf. The killer whale, named Talekwa, pushed his lifeless calf for at least 17 days, traveling 1,600 kilometers across the ocean, before finally releasing it. The Whale Research Center described it as a “tour of grief”.

Charity organization for the protection of wildlife Conservation of Whales and Dolphins The website notes that researchers have documented several species of whales and dolphins carrying dead calves or hatchlings, and that such “mourning behavior” is likely common among long-lived social mammals. BBC Earth has previously reported that scientists are reluctant to use words like “grief” for fear of transferring human emotions to animals. The motivation for such behavior is still not fully understood.

They are trainable

People have been training killer whales in captivity for decades. At SeaWorld, for example, killer whales pose, splash water on crowds, flap their pectoral fins, and generally roll over on command.

Keeping killer whales in an artificial environment is a controversial issue; some experts claim this causes stress and promotes disease. SeaWorld announced that it will end its captive orca breeding program in 2016, and the orcas currently in their care will be the last generation in their care.

They care about each other

Researchers have documented numerous examples of killer whales supporting other whales. For example, killer whales have been reported to help injured or deformed family members survive by catching food. daily mail before. orca mothers they also take care of their sons even in adulthoodand orca grandmothers care for their grandchildren after menopause (one of the few species that can do this).

A study published in the journal 2015 Current Biology, showed that older females guide herd members to food, especially in difficult times when food is scarce; This suggested that killer whales, which were no longer breeding, were bolstering the pod’s chances of survival by imparting wisdom.

Their brains are big

The killer whale’s brain can weigh up to 6.8 kilograms and is well equipped to analyze the underwater environment, the Orlando Sentinel reported in 2010. One of the most impressive intellectual tools of this genre is echolocation. Orcas click to create sound waves and detect the location of prey by sensing when these waves hit something. Southern killer whales, a population of killer whales that live off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, can distinguish steelhead salmon from other fish by detecting the size and orientation of the salmon’s swim bladders, which emit unique acoustic signatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. . .

They hunted whales with humans

For about 1000 years, the killer whale population off the coast of Australia was hunted by indigenous people and later by European whalers. They would hit the water to alert people to the presence of whales, and sometimes they would pull the whales to their location with a rope. In return, humans gave orcas the lips and tongues of whales. The relationship became known as the “Law of Language”. This continued until the 1930s, when commercial whaling caused a sharp decline in the baleen whale population. The killer whales are gone and this population of killer whales is now considered dead. Source