Northland orca expert Ingrid Visser co-authors global study on orcas sharing prey with people

Northland orca expert Ingrid Visser has co-authored a special study about orcas sharing food with humans. Photo / NZME

Northland orca expert Ingrid Visser has been involved in a global study that shows killer whales attempting to share prey with people.

The authors of the study found 34 instances of wild killer whales approaching humans and offering food including freshly acquired fishes, mammals and even invertebrates.

The orcas were documented undertaking the unusual practice in four oceans for more than two decades.

The whales approached people, dropped the item and awaited a response.

Visser said these cases provide opportunities for orcas to practise learned cultural behaviour, explore or play and in so doing learn about and potentially develop relationships with people.

“Orca are very social and we frequently see them food-sharing,” she said.

“To document and describe behaviour of them attempting to food-share with humans in various places around the globe is fascinating.”

The study was published on June 30 in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.

Lead author Jared Towers said: “There appears to be a prosocial element to these cases indicative of interspecific generalised reciprocity, which is extremely unusual to witness in any non-human animal and is suggestive of evolutionary convergence between orcas and people.”

Third author Vanessa Prigollini said the study shows orcas are interested in building relationships with other species.

“Orcas are apex predators that often eat other large mammals, but when it comes to people, they occasionally prefer to share, indicating their interest in building relationships outside their own species”.

More than 30 instances of wild killer whales approaching humans with food were documented.

Award-winning ecologist and author Dr Carl Safina, who was not involved in the study, said orcas had “surreal intelligence”.

Safina said the scientists had systematically gathered an “impressive litany” of instances where free-living orcas showed they possessed “theory of mind”.

He said that meant their minds understood humans had minds too.

“Psychologists have often insisted that theory of mind belongs only to humans.

“Orcas would beg to differ,” he said.

Safina said orcas had repeatedly sought to be interactive with people and had shown they were curious about humans.

“After living millions of years in the sea, to them we in our boats must seem like visiting aliens.”

The study was not the first time Visser had been involved in unique scientific studies.

In 2022, she led research that found leopard seals’ markings could change.

Her team studied extensive footage and photographs of Owha, a 3m long adult female leopard seal who frequented New Zealand waters and who produced extra spots on her body.