by: Ashleigh Papp

The killer whale or orca, also known as Orcinus orca, carries a reputation that can send chills down the spine. The sight of their majestic dark bodies accented with white gliding through the water creates a air of mystery. And, the knowledge of their organized hunting strategies observed in the wild can trigger an image of fear. But, these marine mammals also can ignite a sense of excitement and wonder.

Admittedly, the study of just about every animal (and almost always, bugs and plants too) tends to get me excited. But, my fascination with orcas is on a different level. They’re social, smart, and yes, a bit scary too. But, experts in the field remind that we don’t really know that much about the species. Recently, a remarkable story of a female orca made headlines, and demonstrated a higher level of emotional intelligence than I ever realized was possible. A mother gave birth to a baby calf that died shortly thereafter. For weeks, she refused to let go of her dead newborn, putting her own health at risk. Whether it was grief or another emotion, we’ll never actually know —  but one thing is certain. The events that unfolded from July 28, 2018 to August 13, 2018 make it clear: killer whales have feelings too.

Dr. Deborah Giles, Science & Research Director for Wild Orca and killer whale biologist for the University Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology, has spent her entire life intrigued by killer whales. When she’s not on the water researching orcas, she’s educating others about their biology and behavior, “There’s no real way to actually prove it, but their behavior, to anyone that’s looking, indicates that killer whales do have emotions.”

Like humans, orcas engage in a significant amount of social interaction. To meet this need, they live in groups, or “pods.” These groupings are not unlike a family to us. It is the mother’s lineage that leads the pack. While some may come and go over time, killer whale pods have been observed to always have a strong female line at its core — a mother, her sons and daughters, and offspring of her daughters. It is thought that the matriarch of a pod holds the historical information and knowledge of the group, offering this valuable information to new members and influencing behavior. Aside from an accelerated learning curve for newbies, this grouped living also allows for a feeding strategy that is equally as strategic.

Similar to wolf packs, the grouped nature of orca living means that collaborative hunting is possible. By working together, killers whales not only pass on the winning moves to the next generation of pod members,  they also increase their likelihood of dining rather well. In fact, some of the hunting tactics, especially those that have made the news and YouTube channels, are thought to involve extensive practice and learning well before the film-worthy escapades.

From chasing and splashing one another to the more elaborate greeting ceremonies observed between two different pods, their socializing behaviors almost always involve physical contact and their own version of a spoken “hello.”  The interactions and tone of vocalizations varies depending on where you are in the world.

From social support to strategic hunting, orcas wouldn’t be what they are without their pod. The act of giving birth is no exception. Another perk to operating in a pod is “alloparental care” — basically built-in babysitters. It’s not uncommon for researchers to observe group members other than the mother caring for and protecting a baby or juvenile orca. Even adult males have been observed babysitting juvenile pod members in the wild.

With all of the information gathered thus far by scientists and researchers, it’s easy to start seeing killer whales for what they really are — socially dependent and intelligent creatures that share quite a few striking similarities to humans. But how do the experts actually gauge the intelligence and emotional capability of something that doesn’t speak like we do?

Giles explains, “Scientifically, we can’t even say that another human has emotions. You can tell me that you feel this way or that, but I can’t know for sure that you experience the same thing that I do. So, if you apply that thinking to another species that can’t directly communicate, you then have to look at what you see and look at their physical biology in places like that brain, and relate that to our own experiences. When you do that with orcas, the answer is ‘yes,’ they do have emotions.”

By examining both the physical behavior of killer whales and the structures in the brain that we know have to do with emotions, scientists can confidently suggest that these creatures think and experience emotions at a level similar to that of humans and apes.

Beyond behaviors observed in the wild or captive setting, scientists recently made a discovery that further bolstered their idea of emotional intelligence in killer whales — in 2006, spindle cells were found in the brain of killer whales. Named for their shape seen under a microscope, these cells are long and spindley — think of a daddy-long-legs spider crossed with a tree branch. Discovered in humans in 1929, spindle neurons are seen as the things in the brain that have to do with us feeling and suffering emotionally. A few other animals known to operate at a higher level of intelligence, like apes and humans, also have these specific neurons. When they were discovered in killer whales, researchers (finally) had the physical evidence needed to support the idea that these animals can feel things like we do.

The range of human emotions is vast — from the fiery anger felt when your car gets towed unexpectedly, to the deep love we experience when experiencing a special moment with those closest to us. How researchers define the spectrum of emotions for orcas is still in flux, and most likely always will be. After all, we speak very different languages.

“The biology and physiology of these animals make us believe that not only do they have emotion, but they potentially have the capacity to have incredibly rich emotional lives,” Giles said.

One emotion that is very obvious to those who study orca behavior, and that made headlines recently, is grief. There really is nothing like the process of grieving — that “can’t eat, can’t sleep” feeling creeps in and long overstays its welcome. No matter how many times anyone, even your closest companion, tells you that “it’s going to be okay,” the deep sorrow felt may linger. A mother orca recently demonstrated her grief in a way that gained national attention, and perhaps helped to persuade many who had previously doubted that this marine species experiences what we call emotion.

Within half an hour of giving birth, this mother orca, officially known as J35 or Tahlequah, watched her newly born calf die. She may have been refusing to accept reality or dealing with the grief of her loss. But for 17 days, the longest period ever observed by scientists to date, this mother kept her dead baby afloat while the pod continued its normal movement throughout the waters of the Pacific Northwest. A closely monitored group, researchers followed as the days progressed and the heart-wrenching events continued to unfold.

Giles described her impression of this recent display of behavior, “The whales themselves were telling the story — not only of the sorrow that this mother was experiencing with the loss of her baby, but also the causes of the decline in this population.”

This group of orcas, which are an endangered species primarily due to a sharp decline in their food sources, hadn’t had any new whales born in over three years. And as the mother refused to abandon the dead baby orca, those following along grew increasingly worried about her safety. Instead of resting and replenishing after the delivery, she refused to accept that her baby was dead. Every time J35 had to take a breath, she made a conscious decision to dive back down afterwards and retrieve the lifeless calf, putting her own health at a great risk.

After swimming nearly 1,000 miles with her dead baby to the point that the body was mostly a mass of decomposing internal organs, J35 did what any mother experiencing the grief of a lost child must do — she let go. Whether the emotions subsided or the baby’s body reached a state of decay that prevented her from continuing on, her grieving period finally had come to end.

“This mother’s grief, her suffering, has spoken to the world in a way that scientists never have been able to. It’s galvanized the people who can have a hand in their recovery. She held her baby up for seventeen days for the world to see what’s happening,” Giles shared when asked about the ways that this story can be used to help us better understand killer whales.

As infant survival rates dwindle and the population size of this pod continues to decline due to food scarcity, researchers and marine animal lovers alike continue to do all that they can to support these mysterious yet sensitive creatures.

Orca photos courtesy of: Skeeze

Ashleigh Papp is a science writer based in San Francisco, CA. When not reading or writing, she spends her time playing outside with friends or inside with her cat, Sandy.