Killer whales use seaweed as tools to groom each other

A baby orca named L125, swims with its mother, L86, in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research

Killer whales are known for exceptional intelligence, displaying complex social structures and sophisticated communication.

New research provides fresh evidence for this, documenting how these marine mammals use stalks of seaweed as tools to groom each other - as in, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

Using drones to observe a population of killer whales in the Salish Sea, part of the Pacific Ocean between Washington state and British Columbia, researchers noticed that these predators engaged in a behaviour they named “allokelping,” one of the few known examples of tool use by marine mammals.

The killer whales find large stalks of a type of seaweed called bull kelp, either attached to the seabed or floating at the surface. They then bite off the end of the stalk, position it between themselves and another killer whale and roll the kelp between their bodies.

The researchers hypothesize that the behavior promotes skin health while strengthening social bonds. Other populations of killer whales have been observed rubbing their bodies on smooth stone beaches, possibly to remove dead skin.

“Most examples of tool use in animals involve solving ecological problems, such as gaining access to food. For example, chimpanzees use sticks to fish for termites. What’s remarkable about this discovery is that the tool - the kelp - is used not to obtain food but to facilitate social interaction,” said marine biologist Darren Croft of the University of Exeter in England, co-author of the study published this week in the journal Current Biology.

“This kind of socially motivated tool use is extremely rare in non-human animals and has previously only been observed in a small number of primates, usually in captivity,” added Croft, executive director of the Center for Whale Research, a scientific organization based in Washington state that has studied this population of killer whales since the 1970s.

The researchers documented the behavior among both male and female killer whales of all ages. It likely plays an important role in their social lives, Croft said.

There are some other examples of tool use among marine mammals. Sea otters use rocks and other hard objects to crack open shells to get at the meat inside. And certain dolphins use marine sponges to protect their snouts and stir up the seabed while foraging. The researchers said the behaviour by the killer whales goes one step further because they modify an object for use as a tool.

“While this is not the first documented case of cetacean or marine mammal tool use, it is - as far as we know - the first case of cetacean tool manufacturing with tool use. The whales are not just finding perfect lengths of kelp in the environment, but rather actively modifying larger intact stalks of kelp to create the pieces they are using for allokelping,” said study co-author Rachel John, a University of Exeter graduate student studying killer whale behaviour.

“Another key part of what makes this behaviour so unique is the fact that they are manipulating the kelp cooperatively with a partner without the use of hands or any hand-like appendages. They use their mouth to position the kelp initially, but after that they only use the momentum and pressure of the core of their bodies to maintain contact with each other and the kelp between them,” John added.

The behaviour is known only among this killer whale population.

“We found that individuals with more visible peeling skin were more likely to engage in allokelping, suggesting that the behavior may serve a skin-care function. Brown seaweeds like kelp are known to have antibacterial properties, so it’s plausible that rubbing with kelp helps improve skin health,” Croft said.

“Second, we think this behavior likely plays a role in maintaining social bonds. Physical contact is known to be important for social cohesion in many species, including humans. Just as we might hug a friend we haven’t seen in a while, it’s possible that allokelping serves to reinforce social relationships among whales,” Croft added.

This kelp grows in cold and nutrient-rich coastal and intertidal waters and thrives off the western coast of North America, which includes the home range of these killer whales.

This population is at grave risk of extinction, Croft said, with only 73 individuals counted in the latest census. They are highly specialized salmon hunters, particularly reliant on Chinook salmon. As salmon populations have declined, in part due to dam-building on spawning rivers, the whales have struggled to find enough food.

“In short, they are starving,” Croft said.

By Will Dunham

(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)