Orca – Fish Behaviour – 7.38pm 3Ist July 2025
Orca – Fish Behaviour – 7.38pm 3Ist July 2025
Understanding what a whale or orca is trying to say.
We haven’t spent much time trying to communicate with other creatures because we haven’t had much need and we really don’t know where to start.
In recent times we are trying to process whale vocalizing.
They don’t understand our speech and we don’t understand theirs.
The chasm is actually vast. They cannot use any tools and they can’t understand our speech. They do know we are intelligent and we in part know they are but when we deal with a creature that has limited means of and to communicate, we put them at toddler level.
Whales trying to say something to us therefore is needs based. I don’t mean the friendly family that comes up to us as a greeting and swims away. Like us, they must realize the communication chasm is vast. So if they do try to say something, it will be because it is of great importance. Due to their lack of tools, ie shells seaweed coral etc. our nets hooks lines etc. their options are limited. There is risk for them to touch the latter. Therefore if they produce a fish, then it should be safe to assume that that is the subject matter. And no I don’t believe they are giving a fish as a friendly gesture, we are better equipped to catch our own and they would be aware of that. They must see creatures trapped and dead in our lines and nets. Our vessels hauling krill and fish.
They can’t write a letter, they don’t know about our religions or our schools, politics etc.
They can hear and can see and our best course of trying to ask them anything is likely visual and a yes/no option. Yes/no by sound perhaps, low octave v high octave.
But I conclude the producing of fish,
in simple terms however, is that it’s about fish and there is an urgency that has necessitated the whales to attempt to communicate the matter. Which is exactly what we would do if the roles were reversed and our means to communicate to the necessary party were as limited.
If we had to swim all day and catch our food, care for our children, watch out for ships and other hazards that a largely controlling and dominant species were creating for us in our ocean home, what would prompt us to take a fish to the species fishing our ocean?
Are we seeing undernourished whales? Then I conclude they are trying to say we are taking too much and causing them severe stress and difficulty.
Fiona MacLeod (C)
