Orca J27, nicknamed Blackberry, is captured in a playful photo with a dead salmon on his head, reviving a past trend among southern resident orcas in the Salish Sea. Biologist Deborah Giles comments on how this 'salmon hat craze' reflects the orcas' intelligence and social behavior, as they have the leisure to play when salmon populations, like chum, are high. This unusual behavior exemplifies their cognitive abilities similar to humans, emphasizing the unique way orcas interact with their environment.
"When food is abundant, the orcas have the luxury to goof off and attract mates, perform interpretive dances or launch a modeling career..."
"These are incredibly smart animals... the paralimbic portion of their brain is significantly more developed than it is even in humans, and these are parts of their brains that are associated with memory, and emotion, and language."
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