by From Will Dunham
(Reuters) killer whales are known for extraordinary intelligence that show complex social structures and sophisticated communication. New research results provide new evidence of this and document how these sea mammal animals use seaweed as tools to maintain each other – like in “They scratch my back and I will scratch their scratch.”
Using drones to observe a population of killer whales in the Salish Sea, part of the Pacific Ocean between Washington State and British Columbia, the researchers found that these predators described a behavior that they described as “allokelping”, one of the few known examples for the use of tools by sea mammals.
The killer whales find large stems of a kind of algae, which are called bulls Kelp and are attached to the surface by the sea floor. They then bite the end of the stem, position it between themselves and another killer whale and roll the seaweed between their bodies.
The researchers assume that behavior promotes skin health and at the same time strengthens social bonds. Other populations of killer whales have been observed how to rub their bodies on smooth stone beaches, possibly to remove dead skin.
“Most examples of the use of tools in animals include the solution to ecological problems, such as access to food. In chimpanzees, sticks are used for termites on fishing. What is remarkable about this discovery is that the tool – the seatang – is not used in order not to maintain food, but to facilitate social interaction,” said Marine Biology Darren Crofa, Co -A -A -a -author -publication of the study.
“This type of socially motivated tool use is extremely rare in non -human animals and was previously only observed in a small number of primates, usually in captivity,” added Croft, Executive of the Center for Whale Research, a scientific organization that has examined this population of killer whales since the 1970s.
The researchers documented the behavior in both male and female killer whales of all ages. It probably plays an important role in her social life, said Croft.
There are some other examples of using tools mammals. Seetter use stones and other hard objects to crack open mussels to reach the meat inside. And certain dolphins use sea sponges to protect their snouts and stir the sea floor while looking for food. The researchers said the behavior of the killer whales goes one step further because they change an object for use as a tool.
“Although this is not the first documented case of Cetacean or Marine, so far as we know -the first case of the production of Cetacean use tools with tool use. The whales will not only find perfect length of seaweed in the environment, but also actively, but also actively larger stems -stalks -stem stem stem stems, to grant the pieces to Create.
“Another important part of what makes this behavior so unique is the fact that you manipulate the seaweed with a partner without hands or hand -sized.
The behavior is only known under this killer wall population.
“We found that people with a visible shabby skin lead to allocle ping with greater probability, which indicates that the behavior of a skin care function can serve. Brown seatang and seatang are known to have antibacterial properties.
“Secondly, we believe that this behavior probably plays a role in maintaining social bonds. Physical contact is important for social cohesion in many ways, including people. Just as we have not seen a friend that we have not seen for some time, it is possible that Allokelping is used to strengthen social relationships between whales,” added Croft.
This seatang grows in cold and nutrient-rich coastal and tidal waters and thrives in front of the west coast of North America, which includes the home of this killer whales.
This population consists of the extinction risk, said Croft, and only 73 people counted in the recent census. They are highly specialized salmon hunters who are particularly dependent on Chinook salmon. When the salmon populations declined, the whales parted to find enough food due to the structure of spawning due to the damming.
“In short, they are hungry,” said Croft.
(Dunham reporting in Washington, editing of Rosalba O’Brien)
