Perdana, Orca and Dolphin Pope Seen Working Together to Hunt Salmon

Illustration of the Killer Pope. (Wikimedia Commons/Christopher Michel)

JAKARTA - Orca whales and dolphins were seen hunting salmon together off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, for the first time, according to a new study showing a cooperative relationship between the predators.

The study, published last December in the journal "Scientific Reports", states that the meeting between the northern ocean orca whales and the Pacific white-sided dolphins is a deliberate meeting and not a random meeting during foraging.

The researchers said that orcas, which are highly specialized in hunting salmon, were unexpectedly seen following the dolphins as if they were leading them, as reported by Anadolu (1/2).

Dolphins are often seen near northern resident orcas, an ecotype that relies on salmon, though dolphins can't catch the much larger Chinook salmon and typically eat herring instead.

Study footage shows dolphins acting almost like scouts, quickly chasing after large salmon with orcas behind them. After the orcas catch and share the fish, the dolphins come to feed on the leftovers, a presence tolerated by the usually protective orcas.

The researchers explored several explanations for the presence of the adjacent dolphins, including seeking protection from the killer whale's Bigg predators, gaining an advantage from reduced drag when swimming in the ship's bow, or stealing food scraps from the killer whales that lived there.

However, the lack of aggression suggests that dolphins are not just opportunistic eaters. Instead, the authors conclude that the two species may actively cooperate, with killer whales apparently following the dolphins' lead.