Orcas are bringing humans gifts of food – but why?
One of the orcas, a juvenile female, 'approached a camera I had in the water to film her younger brother and then opened her mouth and let out a dead seabird,' Towers, the executive director of Bay Cetology, a Canadian team of marine biologists based in Alert Bay, British Columbia, told CNN.
She closed her mouth, paused, apparently watching for Towers' reaction and hung in the water while the dead seabird floated up above her. Then, after a few seconds, she rolled around towards the camera and swallowed the bird again.
A few years later, Towers saw another young female killer whale displaying the same behavior – this time, however, the orca 'dropped a freshly killed harbor seal pup right beside my boat.'
Towers discussed these incidents with his colleagues around the world, discovering that they too had been gifted food by killer whales.
When he collated the instances, he found 34 cases of killer whales presenting humans with food between 2004 and 2024.
He and his colleagues laid out their findings in a paper published recently in the Journal of Comparative Psychology where they attempt to unravel the reasons why killer whales might be doing this.
Perhaps, they hypothesized, the killer whales are curious and exploring how humans will react to a gift. Maybe they are playing, though they largely discount this theory because whales of all ages, rather than just juveniles, provisioned food. Or, perhaps it is something more sinister – killer whales have been known to use prey to attract other species and then kill them, but there is no record of orcas ever killing humans in the wild.
'I don't think it's easy to suggest there is one reason for this behavior because there are underlying mechanisms and proximate causes,' Towers said.
'The main underlying mechanism is simply that they can afford to offer us food and the main proximate cause may be that they are doing so as a way to explore and subsequently learn more about us.'
In all but one of the cases documented, the killer whales initially waited for a response from the humans before most of them retrieved the food, though some simply abandoned it and some even tried to gift it again.
The humans ignored the food almost all the time; they took it only four times and in three of those cases, they threw it back into the water afterward.
Pets bring their owners gifts – think of the dead mice or birds that cats leave outside the door – and animals have been observed giving gifts to each other. But until now, there have been barely any recorded cases of wild predators giving gifts to humans, aside from a few instances of false killer whales – a species of dolphin – and leopard seals offering people food.
'In a way, it's not surprising, because… everybody who's on the water with (killer whales) has experienced how inquisitive and curious they are and have had interactions where you know there's something going on between us and them,' Hanne Strager, a researcher and author who wrote 'The Killer Whale Journals,' who wasn't involved in the study, told CNN.
Killer whales are one of the most intelligent animals; only humans have a larger brain relative to their body size, according to the study. And they kill much larger animals relative to their own body size than other whales and dolphins, meaning they can have more food to share around.
Discover your world
Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. They are also believed to have spindle neurons in their brains – a type of neuron known to be associated with empathy – said Philippa Brakes, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Exeter specializing in whales and dolphins who wasn't involved in the study.
While she added that determining motivation is difficult 'because we can't interview them,' she suggested to CNN that it could be 'altruistic' or just a 'basic biological function' mimicking 'something you might do to a juvenile.'
The researchers found that it didn't matter where in the world the whale was or whether it was male or female, a calf, a juvenile or adult – they all displayed this behavior.
It fits into a wider pattern of killer whales often initiating interactions with humans and boats, offering further insight into their lives.
And Towers hopes it serves as a reminder that 'while our species is obviously more technologically advanced than any other on the planet, we do share it with other highly evolved species whose welfare must be considered in our actions.'
Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
‘Washington Black' Is a Defiantly Joyful Fable
As the opening scenes of 'Washington Black' come into view, the narrator Sterling K. Brown tells viewers that what's about to unfold is 'the story of a boy brave enough to change the world.' In the sweeping 19th-century adventure that follows, the wide-eyed, kindhearted George Washington Black, a.k.a. Wash, escapes the Barbados sugar plantation where he has been enslaved since birth, finds freedom and romance in Canada and uses his keen intellect to make marvelous scientific breakthroughs. The eight-part series, based on Esi Edugyan's acclaimed 2018 novel of the same name, debuts Wednesday on Hulu. As the saga bounces back and forth in time, Wash (played by Eddie Karanja) as a boy and by Ernest Kingsley Jr. as a young man) hones his prodigious artistic talents with help from Christopher Wilde (Tom Ellis), a white scientist who facilitates the boy's escape from bondage. Wash learns crucial lessons about the world — and his socially precarious place in it — as he soars through the air in a fantastical flying machine, sails the Caribbean Sea with pirates, rides a dog sled through the Arctic tundra and dodges a relentless bounty hunter hired by his former enslaver. Brown's production company, Indian Meadows Productions, secured the rights to the novel in 2019 and the show's creator, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, set about transforming the transcontinental coming-of-age tale for the screen. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Small, room-temperature quantum computers that use light on the horizon after breakthrough, scientists say
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have demonstrated that a photonic qubit — a quantum bit powered by a particle of light — can detect and correct its own errors while running at room temperature. They say it is a foundational step toward scalable quantum processors. In a new study published June 4 in the journal Nature, researchers at Canadian quantum computing startup Xanadu created a so-called "Gottesman–Kitaev–Preskill" (GKP) state directly on a silicon chip. GKP states are a type of quantum state that spreads information across multiple photons in a pattern that enables small errors to be spotted and corrected. This means that each qubit is capable of correcting itself, without needing to be bundled into large arrays of redundant qubits — a common requirement in today's error-correction methods. It marks the first time this type of error-resistant quantum state has been generated using a process compatible with conventional chip manufacturing, the scientists said. The breakthrough suggests that error-correcting quantum states could be produced with the same tools used to manufacture conventional computer chips — bringing reliable, room-temperature quantum hardware a step closer to reality. The qubit-cooling conundrum Quantum computers work very differently from the classical machines we use today. Classical computers store information in binary bits, represented as either 1s or 0s. Quantum systems, meanwhile, use qubits that can exist in a "superposition" of both states. This enables them to solve complex calculations in parallel, and they can one day perform far beyond the reach of conventional systems. But qubits are notoriously fragile. Even the smallest fluctuations in temperature, electromagnetic radiation or environmental noise can disrupt a qubit's state and corrupt its data. To guard against this, many quantum systems operate at temperatures close to absolute zero (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius) using complex cooling systems to maintain "coherence" — the fragile quantum connection through which qubits perform calculations. Related: Coldest-ever qubits could lead to faster quantum computers While this cooling helps preserve quantum information, it also makes quantum computers bulky, expensive and impractical to scale. Xanadu's solution seeks to address this by using photons — particles of light that don't require deep cooling — to build qubits that run on silicon chips at room temperature. The team's GKP demonstration tackles another key challenge: quantum error correction. Most quantum systems today rely on groupings of multiple physical qubits that work together to detect and fix errors, known as a "logical qubit." Xanadu's photonic qubit sidesteps this by handling correction within each individual qubit, simplifying the hardware and paving the way for more scalable designs. "GKP states are, in a sense, the optimal photonic qubit, since they enable logic gates and error correction at room temperature and using relatively straightforward, deterministic operations," Zachary Vernon, CTO of hardware at Xanadu, said in a statement. RELATED STORIES —'Reliable quantum computing is here': Novel approach to error-correction can reduce errors in future systems up to 1,000 times, Microsoft scientists say —'Quantum hard drives' closer to reality after scientists resolve 10-year-old problem —World's 1st mechanical qubit uses no light or electronics. It could lead to ultra-precise gravity-sensing tech. "This demonstration is an important empirical milestone showing our recent successes in loss reduction and performance improvement across chip fabrication, component design and detector efficiency." The result builds on Xanadu's earlier development of Aurora, a modular quantum computing platform that connects multiple photonic chips using optical fiber. While Aurora addressed the challenge of scaling across a network, this new chip focuses on making each qubit more robust — a critical requirement for building fault-tolerant systems. Xanadu representatives said the next challenge was reducing optical loss, which happens when photons are scattered or absorbed as they travel through the chip's components.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
How Vancouver's urban orcas create connections and community among followers
VANCOUVER — Chatchawan Jaksuwong says he used to feel empty when he looked at the ocean. But after encounters with whales in the urban waters of Vancouver the photographer now feels a deep sense of connection, and he's found community with fellow enthusiasts. "It's a switch from that feeling that I used to have before to, I don't know, let's say (a) warmer feeling," says Jaksuwong, who moved to the city from Thailand about two years ago. He grows emotional as he describes the new-found sense of expectation when he gazes at the ocean. "You know there's something there that makes you feel OK." Jaksuwong is among a growing community of whale fans who track and share the surging number of sightings around Vancouver. Experts say the return of orcas, humpbacks and other marine mammals has been decades in the making, following the end of commercial whaling in British Columbia in the late 1960s along with the wind-down of the large-scale culling of seals and sea lions, the primary food for certain killer whales. Andrew Trites, who leads the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of B.C., says whales are the "ambassadors of the Salish Sea," and their recovery is an opportunity to boost public awareness and encourage protections for their habitat. "People care about what they see, and unfortunately, they see very little below the water's surface to understand the richness of life and the need to maintain a healthy ocean," says Trites, a professor in the school's zoology department. Jaksuwong once saw a whale from a distance during a tour off Vancouver Island. But he says he never expected to see whales from shore in the city. "Now I'm obsessed with orcas," he says, laughing. "It's my thing now." In one encounter last month, he raced to catch up with a pod of whales reported to be passing Stanley Park. He caught a bus, then ran to the middle of Lions Gate Bridge that overlooks the city's Burrard Inlet in hopes of an overhead shot of the whales using his telephoto lens. "I've never run that fast before (with) the gear and stuff, right?" he recalled in an interview. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. That's what I thought." He was greeted with scenes worthy of a wildlife documentary — the whales were hunting a seal. Several of his photos show blood in the water roiling around the orcas. "I've never seen this ever in my life. I feel so lucky, to be honest, to see that here, in nature," he says. Jaksuwong was "over the moon" to capture a photo of a young orca leaping out of the water, a moment he had been waiting for, he says. He shared the photos with the Facebook group "Howe Sound and Sea to Sky wildlife sightings," devoted to tracking and sharing encounters with orcas and other wildlife in the region. It has almost 27,000 members. That day, June 14, the orcas had a bigger audience than usual — a crowd was gathered at Locarno Beach to watch a triathlon, with the whales stealing attention from the finish of the men's event. Jaksuwong joined the Facebook group in May, when a grey whale known as Little Patch spent several weeks feeding in Vancouver's waters. Since then, he's become friends with fellow enthusiasts. "We share our interests and we kind of like text each other, 'whale here, whale there,' and then we go see them together," he says. Erin Gless, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, which represents 30 companies in both B.C. and Washington state, says there has been an "exponential increase" in sightings around Vancouver in recent years. It has given whale-watching operators the opportunity to share stories about the whales as individuals, fostering a sense of personal connection, she says. "We're going to tell you that this humpback is nicknamed Malachite, and he was born in 2021, and he goes to Mexico in the winter," Gless says. "That's what we're really trying to do is put a much more personalized spin on these animals, so that they're not anonymous." Trites says he came to B.C. around 1980 and "never thought" he'd see a humpback in local waters in his lifetime, after whaling decimated the population. "It took the humpback whales a century to find their way back here again," he says. There were no other marine mammals to be seen regularly either at Vancouver's Spanish Banks beach or the Stanley Park seawall, he says, after the culling of seals and sea lions in the name of safeguarding fisheries. The end of the cull around 1970 laid the groundwork for the long-term recovery of Bigg's killer whales, also known as transient orcas, which hunt mammals. "So, we go basically from looking at what I would say was a relatively empty ocean in terms of marine mammals to one now that literally any day I can go and find a whale or a seal or a sea lion or a dolphin or a porpoise," Trites says. The seal population has been stable for some years, kept in check by the orcas; but they have spread out to areas where people are more likely to see them, he adds. "To me, it's a sign that if people just got out of the way, then Mother Nature can heal itself," he says. There is an exception, however, in the story of recovery, Trites says. Bigg's orcas differ from the southern resident killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea in the summer months. That population is endangered and at risk of extinction due in large part to declining numbers of their preferred prey, chinook salmon. In Vancouver's busy waters, whales are also at risk of ship strikes, Trites says, while noise from vessels disrupts their ability to feed and communicate. Gless says people are lucky to be part of the story of the whales' return, but "we need to keep it that way." "We can't be like, 'Oh, they're recovered enough, so now let's go ahead and build this new pipeline or increase shipping traffic.' Those are all things that still concern us." Jaksuwong, meanwhile, continues to watch for whales, monitoring sightings and making his way to the seawall as often as he can, alerting others along the way. "You see the look on their face when they see the orcas," he says. "It's rewarding for me too." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
