this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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Wild orcas on more than 30 occasions in four oceans have attempted to share their prey with people, potentially to develop relationships with humans, researchers have found.

In each of the instances recorded over two decades, orcas approached a person within a length of the orca’s body, and dropped freshly-hunted prey in front of the human, then waited for a response, according to a paper reporting the behavior published Monday in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.

Orcas of every age tried to share their prey, and just about everything was on the menu: sea otter, harbor seal, common murre, gray whale, green turtle, eagle ray, starfish, jellyfish, on and on.

Orcas are the ocean’s top predator, and their brains are second only to modern humans in terms of their size in relation to their body. Their capacity for advanced communications and cognitive, social and emotional intelligence is well known. Prey sharing is common in orca culture.

So just what are the orcas doing, offering food to people?

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[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 42 points 3 days ago

white-gladis : Look, this is what you do to the billionaires.

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 44 points 3 days ago

Sharing food, ramming billionaire boats, orcas confirmed comrades

[–] CeliacMcCarthy@hexbear.net 36 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

What if the catalyst or the key to understanding creation lay somewhere in the immense mind of the whale?

Some species go for months without eating anything. Just completely idle. So they have this incredible mental apparatus and no one has the least notion what they do with it. Lilly says that the most logical supposition, based on physiological and ecological evidence, is that they contemplate the universe.

Suppose God came back from wherever it is he’s been and asked us smilingly if we’d figure it out yet. Suppose he wanted to know if it had finally occurred to us to ask the whale. And then he sort of looked around and he said: “By the way, where are the whales?”

And we said: "Well, we uh..." And he said: "Yes?" And we said, "Well. We used some of them for axle-grease and fertilizer and the rest of them we fed to the dogs."

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 27 points 3 days ago (1 children)

star trek 4: the one with the whales

[–] BanSwitch2Buyers@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago

Which one do they go to San Fransisco? Can't be Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home since their home is in space.

[–] LangleyDominos@hexbear.net 15 points 3 days ago

My takeaway: whales need video games

[–] Enjoyer_of_Games@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago

which Douglas Adams book is this from?

[–] LisaTrevor@hexbear.net 11 points 3 days ago

I'm to dang high for this

[–] LocalMaxima@hexbear.net 37 points 3 days ago

im-vegan except for harbor seal fed to me by an orca

[–] Carl@hexbear.net 27 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Orca debates be like:

We must befriend the humans, that way we can change their society through economic engagement!

No, it is too late for that, we must increase our attacks on humans until they bow to our demands!

[–] CliffordBigRedDog@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago

Fking orca libs trying to befriend us

orca lenin go on trueanon

[–] peppersky@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago

Under communism humans and animals will be friends

[–] AvocadoVapelung@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

finally, they're going to domesticate us

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 28 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] KuroXppi@hexbear.net 24 points 3 days ago

Doing that thing where you pretend to eat the 'food' a toddler gives you by putting it behind your face and going chomp chomp chomp mmm yummy

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 26 points 3 days ago

orcas trying to hire assassins for oil and fishing ceo

white-gladis: why can't i reach those bipeds, according to media it's very easy - anonymous orca

[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 19 points 3 days ago

However, having seen a photo of humans pouring a beer and pretzels into the open mouth of a dolphin approaching their boat, he hopes that people will not take orcas up on their offer to engage.

Fucking lol

[–] PurrLure@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago

A-Are they trying to give us some of their food in a desperate attempt to stop us from ruining their ecosystem?

Like this is a relatively recent phenomenon, right?

[–] D61@hexbear.net 4 points 2 days ago

Orcas: "Once these people take the bait, human is back on the menu comrades!"

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 17 points 3 days ago

So how was the grub?