The unusual spectacle of an adult female killer whale spotted with the adopted – or abducted – calf of another species is causing experts to reassess orca behaviour
rcas, or killer whales, are apex predators, best known for their ferocious hunting techniques. So when a female was seen apparently caring for the offspring of another species, it came as a bit of a surprise. “I saw straight away there was something weird about it,” says Thérèse Mrusczok, who was working as a spotter on the Láki Tours whale-watching boat that witnessed the encounter.
The question researchers have been unable to answer is whether the calf was adopted after being orphaned or abandoned, or whether Sædís stole the calf from its parents. “There are many possibilities … but what we can say for sure is that the female showed protective behaviour towards the pilot whale calf,” Mrusczok says.
Sædís has never had her own offspring over the nine years researchers have been following her, and so it is unlikely she was producing any milk that would have sustained the calf. Rob Lott from Whale and Dolphin Conservation, who was not involved in the research, says: “These creatures spend the majority of their lives underwater out of view and often far out at sea, so maybe this extraordinary encounter isn’t that unusual. But what is exciting is that it’s the first time it has been documented.
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