The minds of killer whales

Credit: Henk Caspers/Naturalis Biodiversity Center

A highly disturbing look at the ocean´s smartest animal: the killer whale a.k.a. orca. They seem to be using their intelligence to really weird ends, such as killing substantially larger blue whales only to feast on their tongues, leaving the rest of the carcass to rot. Or killing sharks (including whale sharks) with the sole purpose of extracting their livers?! 

But sure, I suppose the rest of the dead whales or sharks become food for other scavengers. And the reason the orca´s behavior looks disturbing to us, is presumably that *we* are the only animal who has the right to help itself to delikatessen. Or so we imagined. 

Other orca behaviors are too bizarre to mention here. 

It´s not clear whether the orcas are *really* getting smarter, but they are certainly changing their behaviors through social learning. For instance, the population off the Iberian coast that rams and sinks boats. New hunting techniques could have been developed in response to changes in the fauna due to climate change.

Still, it seems humans may yet have the last word. Off the coast of Washington State, overfishing has led to the dissolution of orca groups and hence their social bonds, as individual orcas strike out on their own in desperate search for food. But this also makes it more difficult to learn and pass on new hunting techniques. 

Perhaps the killer whales aren´t really getting smarter at all. They are getting dumber! Something tells me many Homo wouldn´t mind... 

Are orcas getting smarter?