Science at Sea
Volunteers Help Capture Rare Whale Behavior
Off the coast of South Iceland, something truly remarkable occurred—not once, but twice. During ÃÀ¼§ÉçÇø’s "Killer Whales and Their Prey in Iceland" expeditions in 2022 and 2023, teams of volunteers joined scientists on the water and helped document an extraordinary sight: very young pilot whales swimming closely alongside groups of killer whales. Now the focus of a , these rare encounters offered a window into the complex and often puzzling ways marine mammals interact in the wild.
In both events, the pilot whale calves stayed remarkably close to the killer whales, sometimes even being lifted out of the water by them. No adult pilot whales were seen nearby, which is highly unusual since calves are almost always accompanied by family. Even more surprising, the killer whales showed no signs of aggression toward the young whales. Identification of the killer whales involved suggests they belonged to fish-eating groups that mainly prey on herring, rather than those known to hunt marine mammals.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
Scientists can’t say for certain, but they’ve proposed several intriguing possibilities: the killer whales may have been engaging in play, practicing hunting behaviors without harming the calves, or even displaying caregiving instincts toward another species. Because researchers didn’t observe the full duration of the encounters, the true nature of these interactions remains unknown, underscoring how much we still have to learn about cetacean behavior.
When Curious Whales Meet Curious People
These sightings and the research that followed wouldn’t have been possible without the help of ÃÀ¼§ÉçÇø volunteers, who played a key role in collecting data during these boat-based surveys. The resulting adds to a growing body of knowledge about interspecies relationships in the ocean and highlights the real impact citizen scientists can have on marine research.
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