On my phone so I can’t link, but I read a story about Australian fishermen who say a whale swam up and bumped their boat until they removed some plastic from its mouth. I’ve read similar stories about other whales and dolphins, and considering how smart scientists think they may be, I wonder if they could have some sort of culture and religion. If so, I think it would make sense for humans to play a prominent role in their mythology, considering the havoc we’ve wreaked on them through history.
I wonder if they still might tell each other stories from their grandparents about the terrible times when the gods were murderously angry with them for generations…
Maybe. Alternatively, the cetacean consensus on human beings might be “It’s great how they’re able to learn simple tricks and make themselves useful. You know, I sometimes wonder if humans might even have some limited form of intelligence.”
Frankly, your theory is about the only thing that explains why these 7 hunting orcas behaved this way. There are no documented cases of a wild orca ever ingesting human flesh (Tilikum doesn’t count; humans have pissed him off) so there’s no scientific reason why an occasional human shouldn’t lose an occasional limb, or life, to a hungry pod, especially with all the other mammals orcas do eat.
tl;dr: orcas in Alaska stalk a 12yo boy, encircle him in chest deep water, then call off the attack. They were clearly hunting; all 7 stayed submerged until the bull male made contact with the boy. Once the attack was called off, they began swimming (with fins visible), waving, and slapping.
Could be, but I would think the savagery of past human hunting and near extinction of some species would have left a pretty significant mark if any cetacean cultures (and perhaps oral history) actually exist.
Considering the damage we did, it seems less likely to me that we would be dismissed as some sort of curiosity, like whales are for most humans. In short, humans have had a much larger (and much more devastating) effect on whale history than the reverse.
In order to have “religion” you need at least oral tradition. IOW, the ability to construct stories and pass them down through time across generations.
I’m not up on the latest in cetacean intelligence research, but what I do recall is that while they certainly make a lot of signals to each other, there doesn’t appear to be enough structure there to constitute a language from an information-theoretic point of view.
My understanding (and some brief googling) is that this is pretty inconclusive – scientists still think that some of the vocalizations might be language or something similar, not that anyone is certain at all.
To know this, they would have to have either tasted monkey meat in the past, or have received reviews from other cetaceans that had done so. Given the rarity with which humans (or any other kind of monkey) are eaten by cetaceans, I think this is unlikely.
Scientists have recently found that dolphins use specific whistles and pops to call or identify each other, very much like we use names. If orcas do the same thing, that’s an indication of language skills that we just haven’t become aware of.
But also, I disagree with the need for oral traditions to have religion. It’s just the way WE do things, not necessarily mandatory for all living species. Stepping into what some may call science fiction for a moment, suppose that a species communicates telepathically. We would never pick up on that because we don’t communicate that way, and would just go on arrogantly thinking they were a dumb species.
But when would they have ever found out what we taste like? Tilikum ate his trainer’s arm a few years ago. Other than that, there is no credible human record of orcas ingesting humans. If orcas are basing their dietary preference on word-of-mouth, they are passing on knowledge from centuries ago, if not longer. That’s still a pretty strong argument for them having a cultural aversion to us.
Moreover, if you check Wikipedia, orcas will eat any other mammals, including deer, moose, elk, horse, bear, and all marine mammals. It’s awfully suspicious, and lucky, that we, of all animals, just happen to have a bad flavor.
Sharks may not find us delicious, but they kill several humans a year, anyway.
I can see cetaceans understanding what humans are, and that they are, as a whole, more capable than other animals. But they are also obviously not immortal, and are kind of puny if you catch one alone. I could see them thinking of us more like elves than gods – a little bit magical, and just as likely to hurt you as help you, but appealing to them is worth a try if you’re really desperate.
Certainly that whale understood that he was in a situation, and humans can help. There is a video where a fox with its head caught in a jar wanders up to some humans for help. So clearly “humans are special and can solve problems (if you’re in deep and have nothing left to loose)” is not that hard a concept for animals to understand.
You assume that orcas will just eat anything they don’t specifically know not to, and would have to know that humans, specifically, taste bad in order to avoid them. Most orcas know a few things that they want to eat (e.g. seals, fish, penguins) and will avoid anything that isn’t one of those.
I’m thinking more like they couldn’t stand the “smell”. I’m sure human sweat and other stuff is not only “different” than what they’re used to, but also probably pretty “strong”.
(Tilikum, however, would have gotten used to these smells spending so much time in the tank with humans on a regular basis)