How Intelligent Are Orcas? Here Are Some Ways These Killer Whales Display Their Smarts

Killer whales are among the sea's most successful creatures. In every ocean, orcas stay at the food chain's top. One of the reasons behind their great success is their great smarts.

Orca Intelligence

Killer whales have quite distinct and rich social lives. They have also been able to pick up various hunting strategies for defeating other creatures, including great white sharks and blue whales. This, alone, shows how clever these aquatic creatures are.

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Social Trends

Orcas are social learners that sometimes get caught up within fads. This temporary behavior is typically started by one or two of them and then it gets picked up by others. Later on, the behavior swiftly gets abandoned.

An example of this was when a population across the Pacific wore salmon hats during the 80s. This fad began when one female orca started carrying a dead salmon over her head. In the following weeks, the behavior was adopted in two different pods within the same community. This was also observed in the following year.

However, since then, these creatures were never observed to carry the fish over the heads again.

Dialects

Another sign of orca intelligence can be found in their unique dialects. Orcas dwell in ponds that are based around mothers who are related as well as their descendants.

What makes things particularly interesting is that each pod has a distinctive call of its own, which can be likened to various dialects of a particular language. Orcas are capable of mimicking new sounds that could help them form such dialects.

Greeting Ceremonies

Interestingly, killer whales have quite complex social rituals. They even have practices that researchers have dubbed "greeting ceremonies." This practice involves orcas lining up to form two rows and then tumbling altogether.

In one particular event, the greeting happened at the same time as a birth. In 2020, three pods of orcas reunited in the boundary of the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Canada and the US. The killer whales then whistled and clicked with each other, and then a pregnant orca gave birth to a calf.

The orcas apparently were not foraging and were there to just socialize on the calf's day of birth.

Hunting Strategies

The hunting strategies that orcas learn and pass on are highly specialized. Some orcas across Argentina snatch seals off the coast. In Antarctica, other orca populations start waves to make seals fall from ice that are floating.

Their specialized hunting strategies also extend beyond just targeting seals. Orcas are known to be salmon specialists across areas in the Pacific. They are also known to be whale hunters in Australia and sting-ray grabbers in New Zealand.

Incredible Intelligence

These are just some of the ways that orcas display their incredible intelligence. Aside from that, orcas are known to be picky eaters, have actual friends that can be likened to human friendships, grieve in times of loss, be trainable, and even care for each other.

Their brains are also massively huge and can weigh up to 6.8 kilograms. These organs of theirs are equipped for examining environments underwater.