Orcas Seriously Underestimated

by Shilpa Shah

Yesterday’s news about orcas is getting total side-eye from me. Some orcas (killer whales) have been found to be able to mimic human speech. Here is why this is a COMPLETE NON-NEWS story.

Firstly, dolphins and other animals with smaller brains than orcas have been taught human (English) words since the 1970s. I don’t believe this is the first time an orca has imitated a human word and don’t understand why it’s a big deal now.

But we should question why it’s news at all.

Orcas are INCREDIBLE creatures – they are far more capable than most humans would dare to realise. They are the top predator of the oceans. They are found all over the world and adapt their hunting techniques to whatever prey is available – from working as a cohesive team to corral herring into a tight ball before smacking with their tails to stun, then eating them one by one… to skilfully beaching themselves to pick a seal from the shallow waves.

They use a variety of complex sounds (clicks, cracks, moans, piercing wails) to locate their prey and communicate with each other. An orca’s call can radiate 10 miles, hit land and travel back to a whale to let her orient herself along a coast. A family group will have a distinct code – particular calls they use together and these songs evolve and change over time. Researcher, writer and environmental justice activist Alexandra Morton, in her time studying orcas in British Columbia, recorded 62 distinct codes (or languages). 62 different codes!

The scientists in the news claim they want to understand the role of mimicry in how orcas learn language. We know already that orca societies teach and learn through young ones copying adults. It’s why captive-born orcas don’t know how to nurse youngsters or catch live fish. We also know orcas are creative and love to move in synchrony, apparently for the joy of it. They literally copy each other while making up routines for movement together and a particular move will become fashionable amongst a group until they get bored of it and try a new one.

And then there’s their wisdom. Ancient Indigenous American stories emphasise the sacred wisdom of orcas. They are said to hold the planet’s ancient memory record and their song is said heal the whole world. Orcas are believed by researchers who spend a lot of time observing them to have emotional and empathetic capacities we can’t begin to understand. They outstrip our species in being able to live in healthy, caring societies where the young and sick are cared for and everyone has a valued role. Some people who have observed orcas in the ocean and in captivity believe they have the capacity to read human minds or intention – they have turned up when people out at sea need help and guided them back to land or they have copied an action a person is merely thinking about (and this isn’t news?!).

I say all this to demonstrate that mimicking the words ‘hello’ and ‘1,2,3’ is small fry for an orca. It really is. This ‘news’ is like congratulating Usain Bolt cos you saw him jog to his local shop for a pint of milk. No-one likes being patronised. Making a big deal of it in the news shows what a narcissistic species we really are. And it takes away from the real story….

These studies were done with an orca in captivity in France. There are 56 orcas believed to be held captive across the world right now. What on EARTH are sentient beings with this level of intelligence and social and emotional life still doing in tiny concrete tanks in 2018? Orcas travel over 100km a day in their natural habitat. They enjoy deep bonds with their family and pods – the mother-child bond in orca societies is thought to be one of the strongest among all species. Everything about them is designed to be and hunt in groups. Pulling an orca out of its pod destroys all of this.

Captured orcas are observed to be in states of grief, boredom, anger, loneliness, trauma. Their health deteriorates, the males’ dorsal fins collapse and they are pumped full of anti-biotics to keep infections at bay. Their life expectancy drops dramatically – a study (Ventre and Jett, 2015) showed that on average captured whales die within 6 years of capture. Wild orcas are thought to live 30 (male) or 50 (female) year on average (a 100 year old female has been observed).