KILLER whales have been spotted giving gifts to humans in “extremely unusual” behaviour, baffled scientists say.
Dozens of instances of orcas approaching humans with offerings have been recorded – and even caught on camera.
7
7
7
Gifts logged by scientists so far include fish, birds, mammals, and even a turtle.
The massive 5-ton orcas would swim up to people, drop the item, and then wait for a response.
It’s a common behaviour between killer whales – but scientists are only now seeing the trend for human interactions too.
Importantly, it’s not just a local event: the whales have been spotted handing over gifts in Norway and even New Zealand.
“Orca are very social and we frequently see them food-sharing,” said study author Dr Ingrid Visser.
“To document and describe behaviour of them attempting to food-share with humans in various places around the globe is fascinating.”
The cat-like behaviour sees the orcas carrying their gifts in their mouths.
They would then release them and let them float in front of the humans as part of the “offering” – and wait to see what happens.
“There appears to be a prosocial element to these cases,” said lead author Jared Towers.
He explained that it’s “extremely unusual to witness any non-human animal”.
It’s a behaviour commonly seen in cats and dogs.
But this is one of the first detailed descriptions of similar behaviour for animals that haven’t been domesticated.
Researchers think that it shows how intelligent and social orcas use food sharing to build relationships with their own kind as well as “unrelated individuals”.
And scientists note that orcas can sometimes have food to spare.
7
“Orcas are apex predators that often eat other large mammals,” said study author Vanessa Prigollini.
“But when it comes to people, they occasionally prefer to share, indicating their interest in building relationships outside their own species.”
As many as 34 incidents of food-sharing were collected as part of the research.
For 11 of those, the humans were in the water during the orca approach.
And in 21 of the instances, the people were on boats – with a further two incidents where the humans were on the shore.
“Of the many and varied minds in the sea, likely the greatest are those of orcas,” said ecologist Dr. Carl Safina.
“After living millions of years in the sea, to them we in our boats must seem like visiting aliens.
“And indeed, we are strangers in a strange place we hardly know, about which we have almost everything to learn.”
For it to be recorded as an incident, the killer whale needs to have approached the people on their own.
7
And the item needs to have been dropped right in front of them.
For all but one of the cases, the orcas waited to see what would happen after the offering.
And for seven of the cases, the orcas tried to offer food repeatedly after it was refused by the humans.
The research was published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.
7
ORCAS – HOW DANGEROUS ARE THEY?
ORCAS – also known as killer whales – are the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.
The creatures are dubbed “killer whales” as they hunt and eat other smaller species of dolphin.
Some also feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals like seals and other dolphins.
They’re known as apex predators meaning they’re at the top of the food chain and no other animals feed on them.
There are no recorded incidents of orcas attacking humans before the bizarre boat-bashings, but they have been known to feast on other land-dwelling mammals like moose who swim between islands.
It comes just days after two killer whales were filmed “kissing” in stunning never-before-seen footage.
The orca smooching was filmed by scientists during a snorkelling trip in northern Norway.
It shows the whales engaging in three separate episodes of “kissing”, lasting 10, 26, and 18 seconds each.
And it was described as “tongue-nibbling” and “exceptionally rare” by scientists.
7
