Killer whales visit 'social clubs'

Killer whales create and visit social clubs just like people do, scientists have discovered.

Up to 100 fish-eating killer whales come together in the Avacha Gulf, off the coast of Russia.

But no-one knew why these orcas form these huge superpods, when they normally live in smaller groups.

Now scientists report in the Journal of Ethology that these groups act as clubs in which the killer whales form and maintain social ties.

Fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Avacha Gulf live in stable groups called pods that contain an average of ten individuals and up to 20 in the largest pods.

But researchers have seen up to eight of these pods coming together to form large groups of up to 100 animals.
These large aggregations of pods are seen in numerous places around the world where large numbers of killer whales occur such as British Columbia, Alaska, Iceland and Antarctica.

It is unlikely that the whales gather for protection as they have no natural predators.

In the past researchers have suggested that the killer whales meet to increase their foraging success or to breed.

But the behaviour has not been quantified before.

To investigate, Olga Filatova of the Moscow State University and colleagues from the Far East Russia Orca project observed and photographed whales in the Avacha Gulf from a 4m long boat.

"At first we might see just a few spouts on the horizon. Then quickly we move among them, keeping a distance of a hundred metres so as not to bother them," explained project co-director Erich Hoyt of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), which provided the majority of funding for the project.

"As far as the eye can see, in every direction you see groupings of two to six killer whales surfacing, spouting then dipping below the surface."

"Each grouping has a focal mother figure surrounded by her offspring, some of whom may be full grown males with up to 2m dorsal fins that tower over the females," he says.