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Science at Sea

26 August 2025

Off the coast of southern Iceland, something truly remarkable occurred, not once but twice. During Earthwatch’s "Killer Whales and Their Prey in Iceland" expeditions in 2022 and 2023, teams of volunteers joined scientists on the water and helped document an extraordinary sight: very young pilot whales swimming closely alongside groups of killer whales. Now the focus of a newly published scientific paper, these rare encounters have provided a glimpse into the complex and often puzzling ways marine mammals interact in the wild.

In both cases, the pilot whale calves stayed remarkably close to the killer whales, at times even being lifted out of the water by them. No adult pilot whales were seen nearby—a highly unusual situation, as calves are almost always accompanied by family members. Even more surprising, the killer whales showed no signs of aggression towards the young whales. The identified killer whales appear to belong to fish-eating groups that mainly prey on herring, rather than those known to target marine mammals.

Why did this happen?

Scientists cannot say for certain, but they have proposed several intriguing theories: the killer whales may have been playing, practising hunting behaviours without harming the calves, or perhaps even displaying caregiving instincts toward a different species. Because researchers did not observe the full extent of the interactions, the exact nature of these encounters remains unknown highlighting just how much there is still to learn about cetacean behaviour.

When Curious Whales Meet Curious People

These sightings—and the research they inspired—would not have been possible without the involvement of Earthwatch volunteers. Citizen scientists aboard the survey boats played a key role in collecting critical data. The resulting publication contributes to a growing body of knowledge about interspecies relationships in marine ecosystems and showcases the real-world impact of community involvement in scientific research.

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