Marine biologists have noted an extraordinary behavior in Iceland's orcas, where they appear to have adopted pilot whale calves. Researchers from the Icelandic Orca Project, led by Chérine Baumgartner, initially mistook a baby pilot whale for a malformed killer whale. They later observed several instances of young pilot whales traveling with orca pods, leading to theories about nurturing behaviors rather than predatory ones. These sightings revealed orcas engaging in protective and playful actions with the calves, offering new insights into orca behavior and interspecies interaction.
At first, we were like, 'Oh my god, this killer whale calf has a problem,' the researcher said of the bulbous-headed baby she and her team first spotted back in 2022.
In a new paper published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, Baumgartner and her team from a consortium of Nordic research institutions have posited three theories about the fascinating matchup.
Each sighting involved a pilot whale calf that could be no more than a few weeks old that swam alongside an adult orca female in what marine biologists call 'echelon position'.
Collection
[
|
...
]