Photo By Robert Pittman – NOAA (http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Quarterly/amj2005/divrptsNMML3.htm]), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1433661

Dear Readers, Orcas have cropped up as a subject for the blog on a couple of occasions, most recently because they’d started to wear fish on their heads, and no one knew why. However, scientists all over the world are noticing that orcas are bringing ‘gifts’ to scientists – in Canada, Jared Towers, of marine research firm Bay Cetology, was offered dead birds by two young orca, Quiver and Akela. Both whales dropped the birds in front of Towers, as if waiting to see what he’d do, and then, when he didn’t react, swam off with the birds. Previously, Towers had been offered a dead harbour seal pup by a different orca. 

Towers reached out to other researchers to see if his experience was unique, and soon found that other scientists had been offered everything from stingrays to seaweed. Apparently the behaviour is not uncommon between Orca, who live in close-knit social groups, but to my mind it takes one helluva brain to extrapolate from this to offering food to a completely different species. It feels as if the whales are both curious about what would happen, and exploring the possibility of relationship.

Lots of animals give gifts, from crows to primates to domestic animals such as dogs and cats. With some animals, I get a distinct feeling that they’re being playful, even showing a sense of humour – Towers documents how one Orca, memorably named ‘Funky Monkey’, approached a researcher while wearing a stingray on his head. I love the idea that these whales are literally ‘testing the water’ with humans, and are curious about what we’d do with a chunk of blubber, or a dead gull. I only hope that they aren’t disappointed with us.

You can read the whole article here.