On a windless morning in Seattle’s Elliott Bay this spring, a pod of Bigg’s killer whales sliced through green water and did something few onlookers had ever seen: they pursued and caught a seabird at the edge of an urban shoreline. The scene played out below ferry docks and cranes, a reminder that apex predators ...
For decades, the iconic southern resident killer whales of Washington’s Puget Sound have followed familiar coastal paths, echoing their haunting calls through the Salish Sea. But marine biologists and Indigenous observers are reporting a subtle yet striking shift—these orcas are changing their routes. The reason? A blend of hunger and noise. As their main prey, ...
In a first-of-its-kind observation, researchers have documented wild orcas gently nibbling each other’s tongues—a behavior previously seen only in captivity. Published in Oceans, the study describes a rare underwater interaction captured by citizen scientists snorkeling in Norway’s Kvænangen fjords, offering new insight into the social lives of these enigmatic marine mammals. A Chance Encounter in ...
In a groundbreaking behavioral study, wild orcas—apex predators revered for their intelligence—have been observed voluntarily offering prey to humans in multiple parts of the world. Published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, the research compiles 34 encounters from California to Patagonia, reshaping our understanding of marine mammal social behavior and interspecies interactions. A Study of ...
