Remember when the news went wild about the number of incidents in which orcas attacked yachts? Cases have emerged of a different kind of orca-human interaction, this one much more benign. A new study details stories of killer whales sharing prey with humans. There have been at least 34 such incidences documented since 2015, most from the crews of research vessels. Orcas will deliver a piece of flesh, or a whole animal such as a seal, to a boat and wait around to see what humans will do with it. After a while, they will either retrieve the food or else swim off and leave it.
Of course, we don't know why they do it. There's no way (yet) to determine whether this behavior is altruistic, nefarious, or just a bit of fun. The orcas may be trying to make friends, or they could be studying our behavior, or they may feel sorry for research vessels taking on so little food compared to fishing boats. Then again, they could be trying to bait us into the water. The yacht-bashing behavior was attributed to orcas imitating each other's behavior and playing a game. This, too, could be a game for them, but we don't know what outcome they are looking for. Read more about the phenomenon of orcas sharing their catch at The Canadian Press. -via TYWKIWDBI
(Image source: Wikipedia)
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Look ... the Orcas that were attacking boats were on the West side of Europe, and they were doing that because boats on the West side of Europe were attacking Orcas. The Orcas sharing food are on the West side of North America, because People on the West side of North America are kind to Orcas. You don't need to be a Rocket Scientist to figure this out.
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