A study published this Monday by Current Biology and relayed by The Guardian reveals that orcas are able to use tools to groom each other. If we saw so far in primates, some orcas have been observed in the process of making unprecedented behavior in the marine world. They tear off stems from algae to rub the body with and sometimes to massage each other.
The observations were made in the south of the Salish Sea, off the state of Washington (United States) and British Columbia (Canada).
It is with a drone that a group of 73 residents were studied. The researchers first spotted an individual staining a piece of kelp, a brown algae, before putting it on his rostrum* and rubbing it against the body of a congener.
“We understood that we had identified a hitherto unknown behavior, which is remarkable. We do not expect to discover this kind of novelty by observing the cetaceans, “said the scientists of the Center for Whale Research (CWR).
If this observation has already been made in the past for algae on the body, the fact that the algae is selected, prepared and used in a coordinated manner between two orcas is a novelty.
Another data noted, these behaviors are observed in similar age orcas with a large quantity of dead skin, involving a grooming function. This ceremonial is useful both to eliminate parasites and also strengthens social ties.
In addition to this discovery, the research director at the CWR and co -author of the study, Michael Weiss, alert on the fragility of the species. Affected by the scarcity of salmon which constitutes their main food, these animals also depend on an algae threatened by global warming.
“If we lose them, we may never see this behavior on earth again. It is not only 73 cetaceans that would disappear, but everything they have transmitted for millennia, “warns the researcher.
* The rostrum designates the muzzle of most cetaceans.
