New research reveals that wild orcas, or killer whales, sometimes offer food to humans, challenging assumptions about animal social behavior. According to Smithsonian Magazine, researchers have documented instances where these marine mammals approach humans and present them with prey.
Over the past two decades, researchers from Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico have documented 34 instances where free-ranging orcas attempted to offer food to humans. The study was led by Jared Towers, executive director of Bay Cetology, a whale research organization based in British Columbia, who collected and analyzed information about these incidents.
"The fact that they also share food with humans could indicate their interest in relating to us," said Towers, according to Smithsonian Magazine, suggesting that orcas may recognize humans as sentient beings.
In each of these cases, the killer whales approached people on their own and dropped their prey in front of them, waiting to see what would happen after making the offering. In nearly all instances, the orcas waited after depositing their catch near humans, as if expecting a reaction.
The incidents occurred in oceans around the world, including the coasts of Alaska, California, New Zealand, Argentina, and Norway, involving six different populations across four oceans. Throughout the world, orcas of every age have presented a variety of prey to humans, including dead animals such as fish, mammals, and birds.
In 21 instances, the humans were on boats when the orcas approached, while in 11 cases, they were in the water, and in two instances, they were on the shore. The orcas often reclaimed their offerings afterward, sometimes sharing the treat with other orcas or offering it again to humans. In seven cases, after initial refusals, they tried to be persuasive by offering food more than once.
Orcas usually share food among themselves as a prosocial activity to build relationships, and this behavior may extend to humans. "Offering items to humans could simultaneously include opportunities for killer whales to practice learned cultural behavior, explore or play and, in so doing, learn about, manipulate or develop relationships with us," the researchers wrote in their paper, as reported by Science Daily.
Some incidents were captured on video and in photos, while others were described in interviews with the researchers. The researchers identified 18 different types of orca "gifts," ranging from several species of rays to a strand of seaweed, including fish and even sharks.
In 2015, marine biologist Towers experienced an unexpected event while observing a group of orcas in Alert Bay, Canada, when two sibling orcas named Akela and Quiver approached him with dead seabirds in their mouths. The orcas opened their mouths and seemingly presented the dead birds to Towers, as if offering them. After a while, the orcas took the birds back and swam away, leaving Towers momentarily stunned.
In 2018, a similar event occurred where an orca seemed to present a harbor seal pup to Towers. These moments stayed with him, leading to further investigation into this unusual behavior.
The study suggests orcas are capable of extending their prey-sharing behavior beyond their own kind to other species, hinting that some intelligent orcas may be attempting to develop relationships with humans. "These weren't mistakes. They weren't like the killer whales accidentally dropped the food. They wanted to see how people responded," Towers told Smithsonian Magazine.
Orcas live in social, close-knit groups, some of which have been observed executing highly coordinated and complex hunting strategies, and they share their prey within the group. Prey sharing is common in orca culture, reflecting their intelligence and social nature.
The researchers suggest the interactions are examples of "interspecific generalized altruism," or concern for the well-being of members of another species. Carl Safina, an author and ecologist at Stony Brook University, is not surprised that orcas are willing to share their food with humans. "These highly intelligent creatures understand us—including our sentience—and seem to comprehend the world better than we do," Safina told the Seattle Times, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
The study reveals a poorly understood interplay between marine mammals and humans that is playful and social, with orcas attempting to offer food to humans as a form of social interaction. The researchers write, "Due to the potential for either species to engage in behavior that is harmful to the other, we strongly recommend against seeking out such interactions or encouraging relationships to develop by reciprocating when they do occur."
As orcas are the oceans' apex predators and have large brains that are second only to humans in relation to their body size, their behavior continues to intrigue scientists. "Killer whales are very complex and evolved animals, and we should consider this when it comes to co-existing with them as apex predators of different biomes on this planet," Towers stated.
The research raises the question of why the orcas choose to treat humans. The researchers do not have a definitive answer but have ideas about it. One option is that the orcas were simply trying to play. The researchers suggest that the orcas offer humans treats to better understand them and their behaviors and preferences.
"Curiosity is one of the things that reduces uncertainty," Towers told Smithsonian Magazine. Although the researchers described only 34 incidents in their study, they suspect orcas gift humans objects much more often.
The researchers advise caution when orcas offer prey, as orcas can exhibit complex and unpredictable behavior. "Wild orcas are capable of quickly responding to opportunities in their environment, with direct or long-term goals in mind, without apparently considering humans," they warn.
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