Why refer to them as "Killer Whales" instead of Orcas? If you're trying to garner concern for their survival, then stop trying to refer to them as "killers"
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I posted another comment on this article, but something else comes to mind, which is the continued application of Victorian zoological terminology to animals like this.
We need better terminology than "cows" and "calves" to define whales. They should not be defined in the terms of domesticated livestock. To do so is to help perpetuate the perception that they are just incidental or exploitable for human interests.
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This was a wondrous article. The only sort of silly assertion was that one is less likely to die (an orca or a human) when the grandmother is alive. When my grandmother was alive, I was 34. Now I am 64. Yes, I am much likelier to die now.
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There are some dams in the West that are directly responsible for starving to death Orcas (killer whales).
They need to come down! see: https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/orcas-starving-breach-the-dams/
Orcas are apex predators, meaning part they must continue to exist to maintain the ecological balance of the rivers and oceans where they live. This is not as "unthinkable" as first glance may assume.
See:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/8/140826-elwha-river-dam-removal-salmon-science-olympic/
Orcas are also intelligent, social mammals.....much like us.
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What will help orcas - please stop calling them killer whales - is for Gov. Jay Inslee to breach the Snake River dams. Orcas need those salmon trapped within to survive - much more so than people will need them. I will not consider Inslee to be an envirnonmentalist until he does so.
Astrid
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They’re called Orcas.
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Please stop referring to Orcas as killer whales. It's bad PR for these creatures and they need all the help they can get these days.
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“There might be a fitness benefit to not breeding yourself - you can better help your grandkids if you’re not preoccupied with a baby of your own.”
It occurs to me that this might also apply to gay people. You can better help your nieces and nephews if you’re not occupied with a baby of your own.
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The putative "granddaughter" in the picture is clearly of adult size. Perhaps an inexperienced hunter, but not a juvenile.
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Interesting study!
Anyone who has been lucky enough to have good relationship with a living grandmother understands this effect. It is profound, because grandma has seen it all, remembered much, and is not distracted from attending to you.
My grandma saw and understood much more than she said, but you could easily tell from her actions that she saw everything.
This story, of J2 forgoing a salmon so that her granddaughter can eat, has so much of that and it’s beautiful to see.
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I don't subscribe to the cold assertion that this is just an expression of primal drive to enhance chances of species survival.
These animals are old and wise in ways we cannot appreciate. This is evidence of their capacity for consciousness, love and empathy. The grandmothers, no matter species, are very embodiment of "family values."
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I hope we learn as much as we can about the miraculous beauty and harmony of the natural world while we still can. We've gotten such a late start, I fear so much will be lost before we even begin to understand it.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, a mother Orca carried her dead baby for days, keeping it afloat in an act that I cannot understand as anything but mourning.
Perhaps studies like these will encourage a sense of wonder to be followed by a deeper commitment to preservation.
In any case, I am in awe of these graceful, intelligent, and tragically endangered animals.
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This is fascinating, and so wonderful to learn about. I have a question, though: why are scientists asking why a non-reproducing animal is alive? Isn't the answer just because they are? I know that some insects and animals with short/shorter life spans die soon after reproducing, but not all of them, surely. (I am not a scientist.)
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“...a killer whale known as J2, estimated to be at least 75 and possibly older than 100, catching and sharing salmon with a recently orphaned youngster, presumed to be her granddaughter. The grandmother was feeding the youngster even as she was getting thinner and thinner toward the end of her life...”
For all intents and purposes, orca whales are more evolved than we are, and if we can only estimate their potential lifespan within a range of twenty-five years, that’s a decent indicator that we’ll never truly understand the complexity of their behavioral patterns.
There is a non-zero chance that we’ll push them into extinction within a couple of decades, though, but the same can be said for what we’re doing to ourselves.
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Orcas are thriving worldwide; the reason the "pod" (pack) mentioned in the article isn't also thriving is essentially because of its picky eating habits. Most orcas eat marine mammals like seals; the neighboring orca pods just north feast on mammals and are fat and happy, growing in numbers. The pod in trouble seems to ignore the plentiful seals and instead search for salmon, which have declined in recent years. It's sad, but just as the loss of a wolf pack doesn't affect the survival of the wolf species, the loss of this orca pod wouldn't affect the thriving worldwide orca species.
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@ubique and @Mondo Man - The orcas need the salmon that migrate from the Snake River to survive. But Gov. Jay Inslee, a slave to the fisheries industry, refuses to breach the dams.
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Perhaps orcas are simply more intelligent than humans. As we continue to trash the earth our grandchildren will inherit, they devote themselves to insuring the next generations survival.
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