Scientists Baffled As Killer Whales And Dolphins Work Together To Hunt Prey

Scientists have been baffled after spotting orcas, better known as killer whales, working in collaboration with white-sided dolphins to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia. The study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggested that the two predators may have developed a cooperative relationship.

"One such puzzling relationship occurs between Pacific white-sided dolphins and northern resident killer whales along the coast of British Columbia, Canada, where these two cetacean species are often seen within meters of each other," the study highlighted.

Scientists working with the University of British Columbia, the Leibniz Institute, and the Hakai Institute collected drone videos and acoustic recordings to conclude that this is the first instance of orcas and dolphins working in tandem to supplement their dietary needs.

"These whales are top salmon hunting specialists. They're highly specialised and highly skilled predators. To see them following dolphins as though they were leaders was really counterintuitive, and really exciting," Sarah Fortune, the study's lead author was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

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Marine Predators Cooperating

Though scientists are unsure about the newly formed bond between the two predators, one possibility could be kleptoparasitism, wherein the dolphins may be stealing prey from the killer whales.

"Another is that the dolphins are seeking protection from mammal-eating transient killer whales and to a lesser extent, large sharks."

However, as per Fortune, if the dolphins were acting as parasites, the killer whales, who are otherwise fiercely protective of freshly hunted prey, would not have remained docile to the extent they have been observed. This left researchers with the last and most compelling explanation: the two predators were cooperating.

"The killer whales were orienting themselves to follow the dolphins, and so the dolphins appeared to be in a leadership role," said Fortune. "This really sparked our interest to look further into our data and try to see if we could figure out what was really going on."

The collaboration is even more perplexing given that the northern resident orcas specialise in hunting salmon, while white-sided dolphins eat small fish, such as herring and anchovy.