Reports of orcas ramming and damaging leisure boats off Spain and Portugal have sparked global fascination and alarm. While some incidents have led to vessels being towed back to port, researchers increasingly believe the behaviour is not aggression but a form of play or social learning within a small group of Iberian orcas.
Over the past twenty years, researchers have documented nearly 34 cases of wild orcas offering food to humans—dropping fish, birds, stingrays, and even turtles—before lingering as if waiting for a response. These curious encounters, recorded from California to Norway, suggest deep social awareness and possibly a desire to connect across species boundaries.
In a surprising new study, scientists have observed killer whales using marine plants—mostly kelp—as tools for social grooming. The findings, published in Current Biology, mark one of the clearest examples yet of non-human animals using natural objects for mutual care and bonding.
Wikie and Keijo represent the tragic fate of marine mammals held in parks for human entertainment. Their lives in captivity were limited and isolated, far from the expansive oceans they once could have roamed freely with their families. Known for their complex social structures and strong family bonds, orcas are highly intelligent creatures that typically live in pods, passing down knowledge and forming deep, lifelong connections. But for these orcas, their natural behaviours were denied, replaced by confined pools, restricted social interactions and repetitive performance routines.
In the wild waters of South Africa, a change of diet has occurred among a resident population of orcas. Perhaps because they are finding less of their usual prey offshore, they are now hunting fur seals. Silke and Rainer Schimpf have the story.
The study, which was led by Francesca Pancaldi, used photographic and video evidence to show how a pod of killer whales (Orcinus orca) employed a collaborative approach to target the whale sharks' pelvic area, including the claspers and pelvic fins. This strategy caused significant blood loss and allowed the killer whales access to the sharks’ lipid-rich livers, which is a highly nutritious part of the prey.
The Salish Sea is home to two unique populations of orcas: the northern and southern residents. While the northern population has slowly rebounded to over 300 individuals, the southern residents remain critically endangered, with their numbers stuck at around seventy-five.
The reasons behind the southern orcas' struggle to recover have been well-documented—reduced salmon runs, pollution, and past capture for entertainment purposes. Now, new research suggests another key culprit: human-made underwater noise.
Orcas have long been considered a single global species, with different forms in different regions, known as “ecotypes.”
However, scientists have long recognised the differences between resident and transient orcas, known as Bigg's killer whales, in the North Pacific. Resident orcas maintain close-knit family pods and prey on salmon and other marine fish, while Bigg’s orcas roam in smaller groups and hunt other marine mammals such as seals and whales.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have uncovered compelling evidence of a potentially new population of killer whales in the Northeastern Pacific, distinct from known orca ecotypes.
This discovery, documented in a recent study published in Aquatic Mammals, is based on observations of 49 orcas exhibiting unique hunting behaviours, including predation on sperm whales and sea turtles, off the coasts of California and Oregon.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava addressed the issue in a statement posted on social media platform X, revealing that The Dolphin Company had consistently fallen short in maintaining the premises and ensuring the safety and well-being of the animals under their care. She emphasized that the current state of the Miami Seaquarium is deemed unsustainable and unsafe.
