To be Touched by the Killer Whale
Transcriber: 지수 김
Reviewer: Amanda Zhu
Killer whales are, without question,
one of the most universally recognized
and respected species,
I think this is partly due to them
being one of the world’s
most powerful predators,
that they are like
the Tyrannosaurus rex of the ocean.
And I also think it’s because many of us
see ourselves in killer whales.
They’re smart, they’re social,
and they’ve got strong family bonds.
In fact, the more I’ve been studying them,
the more parallels I see
between killer whales and people.
In my home province
on the Pacific coast of Canada,
we have three types of killer whales
that look physically similar
but are as different
as vegetarians and meat lovers.
One of the three ecotypes
appears to specialize in eating sharks,
while a second only eats
small marine mammals,
and a third specializes in eating fish,
particularly large salmon.
Each of these ecotypes also has
a different dialect and behaviors,
and they’re culturally distinct,
much like different
ethnic groups of people.
Now, the ecotype
I’ve gotten to know the best
are the fish-eating killer whales,
shown in this aerial photograph.
They’re known as resident killer whales
because they predictably show up each year
as the salmon are migrating back
to the native rivers to spawn and die.
Almost all the killer whales
in British Columbia
have been photographed and named
and put into family trees.
Knowing who is who
for killer whale specialists
is as simple as being able to recognize
the shape of their dorsal fins,
the shape of their gray saddle patches
and their nicks and scars,
each which is as distinctive
as the fingerprints on your hands.
One of the easiest ways
to tell adult males and females apart
is by the differences in their sizes.
Adult males are
so much larger than females
and of a much taller
and bigger dorsal fin.
And another curious thing about males
is their devotions to their mothers.
You see, if you’re born a male,
you’ll stay with your mother
for your entire life,
but if you’re a female,
you’ll eventually leave your mother
when you have your own calves
and are ready to leave your own pod.
So while males
don’t actually have tattoos,
they’re definitely mama’s boys.
You see, mothers are the heart of the pod.
Pods are maternally led.
Mothers lead the pods
and make all the big decisions
on where and when to grow.
I think part of our fascination
with killer whales
is the ease with which
we can encounter and observe them
as well as they’re occasionally
interested in observing us,
such as a spyhopping individual.
However, for the most part,
killer whales pay us little attention
and just want to get on
with their daily activities
as they travel, rest, socialize and feed,
which they must increasingly do
in an environment
that has changed dramatically
over the past 100 years.
You see, the ocean that they once knew
has gotten noisier,
it’s gotten more polluted,
and it’s being fished harder and harder.
A particular concern
for resident killer whales
is whether or not
they’re getting enough to eat,
which is why I’ve been leading
this project for the past two years
with a team of researchers
that are tracking salmon,
analyzing movements of killer whales
and assessing the availability
of salmon for killer whales.
In fact, this is the research vessel
we used for the past two years
to follow whales as they’re feeding
and looking for fish.
On board the ship,
we’ve got listening devices
to listen for the whales,
and we’ve also got transducers
to send out sound to the sea floor
and to bounce off the bladders of fish
so we can image them here
on our computer screens.
We’re effectively using the same technique
as killer whales
use echolocation to find fish,
except the killer whales do it
much better than people can.
And we’ve also been using
other technologies
to see as best we can below the water
to figure out what’s going on,
such as drones that we can launch
to fly high over top and record,
as well as putting on orca cams.
These suction cup cameras
can be put on to pod members,
and for the first time,
it’s allowed us to see and experience
what the killer whales are seeing
when they’re below the surface,
outside of our vision.
These advanced biologgers
are like Fitbits for killer whales.
They record movements, times, depth,
water temperature and sound,
and they float free from the whale
after a pre-set time,
at which point we can download the videos
and watch what it is
that the killer whales experienced,
how they look for food.
Now, the first time
I sat and watched the video,
I was just struck by the fact that -
It was like I was seeing
killer whales for the first time
in a way that I’d never
previously known them,
because for all my research career,
this is how I’d been seeing killer whales,
essentially, as dorsal fins
in front of other dorsal fins
and silhouetted,
an animals swimming
more or less in parallel,
dorsal fins up, blowhole up
and swimming in a very organized way.
And yet, as I watched the videos
and watched hours and hours and hours,
I realized that things
aren’t always what they appear.
In fact, at one point,
I felt like I was watching
a Gary Larson cartoon,
where one of the cows yells out, “Car!”
to warn the others
of an approaching automobile,
at which point the people get to see
the cows in the way that I and others
have always known them to be.
But they never get to see
the other side of cow lives.
And so, I felt in many ways,
that my pictures I’ve been taking
of killer whales,
were very much like the center panel,
that I was just seeing
one aspect of their lives
when, in fact, there’s a lot more going on
that we’ve just not been aware of
because we’ve not been able
to record it or see it in its proper way.
So, what is it that we’ve been missing?
What have the drones
and orca cam recorded
that we’ve not been seeing from our boats
as we’ve sailed along, parallel,
or behind the whales?
I’m going to give you,
from the same shot here -
here’s what’s going on from above.
And you can just see how close the whales
are travelling to one another
and how they’re coming into contact
with each other as well as they swim,
and particularly young animals
that are often drafting
under their mothers.
So, what do you see if you go on to -
There are two cameras in this image here,
and what are they recording underwater?
Well, here for the first time,
you can ride along with the pod.
(Underwater noise)
Now, you probably noticed
the tailing edge of the whale’s tail
that rubbed across the skin.
You saw the dead skin come off
as they came into contact with each other.
You might have also noticed
just how different the skin
of a killer whale looks underwater
compared to the way we see it
when they’re above water,
looking so shiny and black.
You may have also noticed
just how green and almost devoid of detail
it is under the water
compared to this rich landscape
that we see each time the whales surface.
But of course, killer whales
rarely look at what’s above the water.
In fact, what struck me most
about watching so many hours
and hours of orca cam video
was just how dark their world is
and also how one level, it seems
almost like it’s visually impoverished
compared to the one
that you and I live in.
Now, this next video
helps to make this point
while also pointing out
the importance of sound
as a way to connect
in this very dark, dark world.
Have a watch and listen.
(Underwater noise)
(Killer whale whistling)
(Clicking)
(Faint clicking)
(Water splashing)
(Killer whale whistling)
(Killer whale whistling)
(Killer whale whistling)
The orca cam has captured
just so many amazing killer whale moments
that I think few of us
could have imagined,
and one of the ones
that stands out for me in particular
was this moment here,
where our orca cam videographer
captures a mom with her calf
and watch as the calf comes in
to get its belly rubbed.
(Underwater noise)
It sort of feels as I watch this
that we just saw a moment
just before one of the wales yelled out,
“Boat!”
as they came up the surface.
Now, I’d like to leave you
with one last final clip from the air
that shows some of these strong bonds,
this importance of touch,
as well as this playfulness
of mothers and their offspring.
And here we can see three moms
with their young ones,
and some are turning on their sides
and drafting underneath.
And then this next one.
This young one here
has got a piece of fish in its mouth
and mom’s coming in here
to give a little rub.
And finally, what could be more satisfying
for a youngster, then,
to whack its mother’s head with its tail
as mom playfully pushes the calf along?
So I hope that watching these videos
has also made you realize,
as much as I have,
just how much we have in common
with killer whales.
Just like us, they thrive in being touched
and are connecting with others
through touch.
Touching is undoubtedly key to keeping
their pods healthy and together.
For me, one of the hardest
things about COVID
has been not being able to touch others
and the ones we love.
And I think we all have
a great appreciation
of the power of touch, the need for touch,
and its ability to keep us
connected and healthy,
just like the killer whales.
Thank you.