Hundreds of killer whales gather together in Norway in what could be the biggest orca pod to ever be filmed.
We know orcas to usually gather in much smaller groups, so understandably, this mega pod of orcas raised some questions.
So why are they all gathering together?
Well, the first theory was that they could be a large extended family. To tell if this is true, researchers listened to the orcas’ calls to each other.
Orcas in a family usually speak in a similar dialect. But after listening for a little bit, it was clear that there were lots of different dialects, hinting they are all from different families.
So instead of this being one big pod, it is in fact a collection of several pods coming together in this area, and this is unusual in orca behavior.
Could they have met for mating purposes?
Orcas are pretty secretive with their breeding practices. But we know that they do prefer to breed in warmer waters and in the spring, whereas this video was captured in the winter, it seems like it’s the wrong time of year for romance.
What about a potential feeding frenzy?
The video does show a lot of birds circling overhead which can indicate that there may be a lot of food down below.
In this part of Norway, the fish is most likely herring, which is an orca favorite. But it doesn’t look like they are herding them as they usually would as the video shows no tail slapping.
Instead, you can see the fishing boats in the distance, they will often break the nets and take some fish for themselves.
These intelligent creatures have learned what fishing boats sound like, and therefore have grouped up as they knew there would be food here.
How clever!
