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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/california-killer-whales-monterey-bay-play>
"A crowd of 30 killer whales met for a party in California’s Monterey Bay on
Sunday.
They did belly flops into the water, slapped the waves with their flukes and
spewed water from their blowholes, surprising marine biologists who had never
seen the animals engage in such playful behavior for so long.
Nancy Black, who has been studying killer whales for more than 30 years, said
Sunday’s show was the best orca sighting she’d ever seen. Black, a marine
biologist with Monterey Bay Whale Watch and the director of the California
Killer Whale Project, said the gathering was unique because the animals played
in the bay for more than eight hours. Eleven family groups came together, or
about 30 whales. Sometimes three or four whales would breach the water at once.
Others slapped their tails against the water’s surface, wrestled with one
another and swam in loops.
“Just like kids that are in a park, they get excited and play with the other
kids and may be more active,” Black said. “The little ones were wrestling and
rolling like a bunch of puppies.”
Little is a relative term. Orca calves can weigh up to 400lbs (180kg) at birth.
Killer whales have a “matriarchal society”, Black said, and travel in groups
led by a mother or grandmother. They rely on each other to hunt, share
responsibilities for rearing calves and divide the burden of teaching their
children. They generally travel with one family group, which can include
between three and seven orcas.
That’s what made Sunday’s sighting so unusual. Although researchers know that
orcas can communicate with underwater vocalizations, the sounds likely only
travel about 10 miles (15km), Black said. With their territory ranging from
California to Canada, Black said she doesn’t know how the creatures all decided
to “hang out together” in Monterey Bay."
Via Doug Senko, who wrote "Cool videos."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
