Unveiling the Mystery: Why Iceland’s Orcas Are Swimming Alongside Baby Pilot Whales

In June 2022, Chérine Baumgartner, a researcher with the Icelandic Orca Project, spotted something unusual. While watching a pod of killer whales, she noticed a small creature that didn’t quite look like them. It wasn’t one of the orca calves but rather a baby pilot whale. Intrigued, Baumgartner and her team spent hours observing the pod but couldn’t find the pilot whale the next day.

This interaction wasn’t a one-time event. From 2021 to 2023, scientists noted several encounters between orcas and baby pilot whales off Iceland. These sightings raised questions about the nature of these interactions. In a recent study published in Ecology and Evolution, Baumgartner and her colleagues explored three possible explanations: predation, play, or a nurturing behavior.

Observations showed pilot whale calves often swam near adult orcas in what’s called an echelon position—next to and slightly behind them. Sometimes, orcas even nudged the calves, suggesting a degree of interaction. In one instance, a pilot whale was lifted out of the water by an orca, possibly indicating curiosity or playfulness.

Baumgartner suggests the orcas might not be hunting these young whales, as their diet mainly consists of fish. While some orcas do prey on seals and porpoises, there was no aggressive behavior displayed towards the pilot whale calves.

Another possibility is that the orcas were engaging in playful behavior, incorporating pilot whale calves into their hunting scenarios. Orcas can often be seen herding fish like herring, and maybe they were including these young whales for practice.

The notion of parental instincts also plays a role. In the wild, it’s not uncommon for dolphins and whales to care for the young of other species, but these interactions seemed temporary. The pilot whale calves depend on milk, which the female orcas didn’t provide.

Baumgartner noted that these behaviors could overlap. “It might be a mix of nurturing and playful exploration,” she explained.

However, several mysteries remain. Researchers are curious about how these pilot whale calves ended up near orca pods and what happened to them afterward. Did they stray from their group or were they purposefully approached by the orcas? One researcher, Filipa Samarra, wonders if environmental changes, driven by climate change, might be drawing these species closer together.

Recent statistics show similar interactions in other regions. For example, Sarah Teman, who studied orcas in the Salish Sea, found parallels in behaviors where orcas interacted with porpoises, sometimes resulting in fatal outcomes. She remarked on the nurturing behaviors observed in both locations, highlighting the complexity of these marine social structures.

Overall, the ongoing research aims to uncover how killer whales and pilot whales interact and what this means for both species in a changing climate. As scientists continue to study these intriguing encounters, they hope to piece together the puzzle of these unique relationships in the wild.

For a deeper understanding of marine life interactions, you can explore more on the findings from Scientific American here.

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