Latest / How To Protect The Ocean / Orca Allokelping: Newly Documented Mutual Grooming Tool Use in Marine Mammals

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Orca Allokelping: Newly Documented Mutual Grooming Tool Use in Marine Mammals · How To Protect The Ocean

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  Now you might have been to the spa and
• 1:00:02
  gotten, you know, facial and you've used
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  all these different types of plant
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  material to make your face look good,
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  make your body feel good.
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  But how do animals react to itchy skin or
• 1:00:13
  sensitive skin in the ocean?
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  I mean, the saltwater can
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  be kind of harsh on our skin.
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  Is it harsh on like
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  marine mammals like orcas?
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  Maybe so. And they
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  have a remedy for that.
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  It's called allo-kelp.
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  It's the first documented use of a tool
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  other than for hunting where an animal
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  like the orca gets off a piece of kelp
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  and rubs it in between two orcas to take
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  care of any itchy skin or sensitive skin.
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  It's pretty cool.
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  And we're going to talk about it on
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  today's episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  Let's start the show.
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  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another
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  exciting episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.
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  And this is the podcast where you find
• 1:00:52
  out what's happening with the ocean, how
• 1:00:54
  you can speak up for the ocean and what
• 1:00:55
  you can do to live for a
• 1:00:57
  better ocean by taking action.
• 1:01:00
  Now, look, I know that a lot of the times
• 1:01:02
  when we talk about the ocean and how to
• 1:01:04
  protect it, we have to talk about some of
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  the stuff that's not so fun to talk
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  about, you know, climate change,
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  overfishing, water quality issues,
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  plastic pollution and so forth.
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  But today we're going to do
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  something a little different.
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  We're going to talk about some really
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  cool things that orcas do.
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  And they do a lot of cool things.
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  But we found another cool thing to do.
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  And that's using a
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  tool to help their skin.
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  It's a really fun thing to do.
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  And, you know, this is what we do on the
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  How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  We kind of teach you about the ocean,
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  some of the cool things that animals do
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  and how to protect a little bit more.
• 1:01:33
  But we go a little bit deeper now when I
• 1:01:35
  decided to join a group of cofounders
• 1:01:38
  that we're putting
• 1:01:39
  together an undertow community.
• 1:01:41
  It's called the undertow.
• 1:01:42
  It's a community where you can join.
• 1:01:43
  It's going to be a digital app.
• 1:01:44
  You can join as a community.
• 1:01:45
  We want 10 million connections, 10
• 1:01:47
  million of you to take five million
• 1:01:49
  dollars worth of action by 2030.
• 1:01:51
  It's an ambitious goal,
• 1:01:52
  but we want you to get there.
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  We want to help guide you to doing the
• 1:01:57
  right thing and protecting
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  the ocean and how to do that.
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  Get over all the greenwashing or blue
• 1:02:02
  washing or however you want to call it.
• 1:02:03
  Really get down to the nitty gritty and
• 1:02:05
  be able to say, hey, this
• 1:02:07
  is how you protect the ocean.
• 1:02:08
  So go to speak up for blue dot com at
• 1:02:10
  forward slash join the undertow.
• 1:02:11
  Join the undertow and get better and
• 1:02:16
  guided experience or guided ways and
• 1:02:19
  methodologies of protecting the ocean and
• 1:02:22
  being involved in a community where
• 1:02:23
  you're not worried about algorithms on
• 1:02:25
  social media and be able to kind of join
• 1:02:28
  a community that's
• 1:02:29
  there to protect the ocean.
• 1:02:30
  No algorithm all ocean all the time.
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  It's a lot of fun. All right.
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  Let's get back into the episode.
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  Orca's orca's are cool.
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  We love orca's and they
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  did something really cool.
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  We're going to go over to the orca's not
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  the orca's by the Strait of Gibraltar who
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  are taking down boats and who are
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  continuing to harass boats.
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  That's kind of a cool thing in its own
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  right, but a little scary.
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  We're going to go to the critically
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  endangered southern resident orca
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  population just off the coast of BC and
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  the sailor sea and as well as off the
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  northwest coast of
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  Washington or the United States.
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  And we're going to look at how these
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  orca's who are very well monitored and
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  very well studied how they are
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  interacting and how they are kind of just
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  living right how they are enjoying life
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  and being able to live and survive.
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  There's only 73 of them left. There used
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  to be over 150 160 and they went through
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  some pretty critical impediments in their
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  population in the 1970s. A lot of that
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  population was grabbed up caught and
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  shipped off to a number
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  of marine theme parks.
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  So what we know now is like marine land
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  in Canada and the sea world parks as well
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  as many of them in Russia, China and
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  Europe probably South America as well.
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  And we know that's documented as
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  captivity is not good at all for marine
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  mammals and it affects their psyche. It
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  affects their emotions. It affects their
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  physicality, their physical presence.
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  They are stuck in small, you know, tubs
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  and that's not good. Right. We know
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  that's not good. So a lot of them were
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  captured after that and the population
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  went down quite a bit.
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  I think 60 of them were caught. And then
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  we have the lack of salmon that's coming
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  back. We have dams that were put up in
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  critical rivers where salmon were
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  frequenting for hydropower.
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  And we saw a lot more predation by sea
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  lions as they started to increase. And
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  with that effect, that cumulative effect
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  of climate change and so forth, we are
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  seeing a lot less of the coho salmon,
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  which is their favorite food.
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  The southern resident oracle population
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  favorite food. And so we kept seeing a
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  continued decline in their population. So
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  now there are 73 of them. We've seen a
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  couple of calves be born over a couple of
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  times. But then we've also seen some that
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  have died at a very, very young age,
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  which is heartbreaking.
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  We know the behaviors of the ability of
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  these orcas to mourn their lost calves.
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  And it's been heart wrenching to watch,
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  but also very interesting to see how they
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  have this culture about them. We know
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  that each pod, even within the southern
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  oracle resident population have their own
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  language and have their own dialect.
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  And the transient orcas also have a
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  dialect, which eat marine mammals and
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  sharks and large animals. And then you
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  have the northern resident population,
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  which also each pod has their own
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  dialect. And some of them can understand
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  each other. Some of them
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  can't. It really depends.
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  But that's something that becomes more
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  and more interesting as we look at this.
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  And so the culture of these animals is
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  something that's very, very interesting
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  to scientists, very
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  interesting to ocean conservationists.
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  And just I would imagine anybody who's
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  not in the field just because it's so
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  cool to see. And it helps us understand
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  their behavior and helps understand what
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  is critical to their survival.
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  This behavior that we saw through drone
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  footage, so drone monitoring, where you
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  have these drones that have like highly
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  defined cameras on them, and they're
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  flown with permits and they have to
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  follow certain rules and the drone
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  operators have to be licensed by like if
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  you're in Canada has to be like the
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  National Federation of
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  Flights of flying or flying.
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  Or whatever you call it the equivalent of
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  the FAA. And then the FAA in the US has
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  specific guidelines and tests to be able
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  to operate a drone. And especially if
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  you're around a marine mammal, they used
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  to never allow it around a marine mammal
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  because the Marine Malle Protection Act
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  in the US didn't allow
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  anybody to harass these animals.
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  And there's such a noise that comes off
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  of some of them that it can be considered
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  harassment. But the things that progress
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  since the beginning of drones and drone
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  operations and using drone operations to
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  monitor marine mammals.
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  And there have been some more research on
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  it. It shows like they're in specific
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  situations with the proper permitting and
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  the proper drone operators. You've been
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  able to use drone as a monitoring tool to
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  monitor these behaviors.
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  And it's really difficult to go up on a
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  boat 200 400 meters away, depending on
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  what the permits are for and be able to
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  monitor things because you're present,
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  you're there. And so the animals are
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  probably going to behave
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  differently when you're there.
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  They might be curious and come over and
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  see you or they might have tried to avoid
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  you, but you're not seeing their natural
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  behavior because there's somebody
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  present, right? There's a boat present
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  that's causing noise that can affect
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  their communications and so forth.
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  Having a drone go above them in certain
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  height and everything and following those
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  permits, you're able to see things that
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  they don't display when you're present.
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  And this is one of
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  those things I imagine.
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  And it's basically defined as allo
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  kelping, which is like trimming the kelp
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  types of part of the kelps, the kelp
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  plants, and then wedging the kelp types
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  between their bodies.
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  So taking two orcas and wedging it
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  between their bodies and then S shaped
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  rubbing each other. So they're rubbing it
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  down. And what they notice is that like
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  it happened between all sexes.
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  It happened between all ages, akin among
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  peers, among family members, among peers.
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  A lot of times the peers were about the
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  same size. Some were like really close
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  relatives and some may have been mates in
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  the past, but all of them were doing it.
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  And this was something that's part of
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  their general upkeep and maintenance, it
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  seems. One of the tools used is the first
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  known mutual grooming tool
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  among wild marine mammals.
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  Isn't that fascinating to be able to
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  capture that using technology from far
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  away, using high resolution cameras,
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  following permits and following the
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  rules. It's amazing what you can do when
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  you do things ethically
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  and what you can discover.
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  It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. So
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  why do they do this? Well, it's a
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  physical kind of remedy and social
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  strengthening for bonds. But
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  essentially, it's skincare.
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  We as humans, you know, a lot of us go to
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  the spa. I've been to a couple of times.
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  You get massage, you get treatment, you
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  get like your face down, like a facial,
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  you'll get your nails trim like a
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  manicure and a pedicure.
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  You'll put like kelp products, you'll put
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  seaweed, you'll put cucumbers, whatever
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  it is. I haven't been to many. You
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  probably noticed that by then. But you
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  use all of the properties of these
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  seaweed or kelp or sea grasses that are
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  used for antibacterial treatments or, you
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  know, facial treatments and like
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  exfoliating and all that kind of stuff.
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  Well, that's what marine mammals have
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  been doing for a long time. We just
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  didn't know about it. I don't know how
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  long they've been doing this, but they're
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  definitely been doing it for a while
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  because they do it. It's very much
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  compared to like primates
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  on land who groom each other.
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  There are other animals that use the
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  tool, but to think that comparing, you
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  know, primates to marine mammals, like
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  primates have the hand coordination. They
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  have that very, very close, really
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  related to humans. And they have a lot of
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  the same kind of movements and the same
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  kind of abilities to grab things with
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  their hands to be able to grip things to
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  be able to use tools and fine tune tools.
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  You look at an orca, they're a 60 to 65
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  foot animal. They have fins. They don't
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  have fingers. They can't grip things
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  unless it's with their mouths. So they
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  have to be very intricate in placing this
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  kelp type and be able to put it between
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  their bodies and rub it back and forth so
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  that they actually feel the effect of it.
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  And they're usually like the
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  antibacterial properties of the kelp to
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  be able to do it. And then look, look,
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  they are in habitats where there is kelp,
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  there's bull kelp. That's the type of
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  kelp that they use. They could use other
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  type of kelp, but that's what they were
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  seen using. So we're going
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  to assume that it's them.
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  Now here is the important part with
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  conservation. You have a population that
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  is critically endangered. They are having
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  trouble finding salmon. They are having
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  trouble with climate change. They are
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  having trouble just
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  being able to reproduce.
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  And their physiology is facing some dire
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  straits when it comes to chemicals in the
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  water or from plastics and it gets into
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  their tissue and it degrades their
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  system. It degrades their health. And so
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  they are facing a lot of problems.
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  Now we've discovered that they've been
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  using this bull kelp to help with their
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  skin care. Right? That could be something
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  that's critical to them. We don't know
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  how often they do it. We don't know if
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  this is a necessity or if this is just
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  for fun. We don't have a clue.
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  And so when you have bull kelp, which is
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  reducing in its number and its spatial
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  coverage, and you have a critically
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  endangered species that is using that
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  bull kelp for potential skin care. Now
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  you're looking at the conservation
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  connections here. Right? You're looking
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  at critically endangered population and
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  you're having a kelp that used to be very
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  abundant along the
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  coast of BC and Washington.
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  And now it's reducing because of
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  pollution, climate change and so forth.
• 1:11:13
  We have no idea how important the skin
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  care routine is for the orcas. It could
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  be vitally important. It could help them
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  get rid of parasites. It could help them
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  get rid of any kind of cuts or flush
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  wounds or anything like that.
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  That could be important in terms of their
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  overall care, their outer care, right? To
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  protect their skin. And we don't know how
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  often they do it, but we're going to
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  start to figure that out as we can
• 1:11:37
  observe where we're not directly
• 1:11:39
  interfering with their regular patterns.
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  And we can observe using drones. So
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  hopefully we see more of this. We see how
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  they use it, but it's definitely
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  something to emphasize that not only is
• 1:11:48
  this good for conservation, but it's also
• 1:11:49
  good to understand their culture.
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  To emphasize that cultural loss, like
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  loss risk if populations decline further.
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  So that we lose that culture of those
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  species and how they interact and how
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  they strengthen bonds with each other by
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  rubbing close to each other, how they
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  take care of each other, how it's like
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  all sexes, all ages, and they
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  partner up in different ways.
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  This is all part of their culture and the
• 1:12:11
  more we lose from these animals, the more
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  culture we lose in these animals. We are
• 1:12:15
  not seeing the replacement of young as
• 1:12:18
  much as we're seeing the death of the
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  old. This population is
• 1:12:21
  not sustainable as we see it.
• 1:12:24
  Until you start getting that regular
• 1:12:26
  reproduction rate and that regular
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  success in reproduction and those calves
• 1:12:31
  surviving beyond two, three, four, five,
• 1:12:34
  six years and be able to get to sexual
• 1:12:37
  maturity and be able to reproduce
• 1:12:39
  themselves. We do not have
• 1:12:40
  a sustainable population.
• 1:12:42
  So we are not only losing these animals
• 1:12:44
  as apex predators, but we're also losing
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  the culture that they bring and something
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  that we can learn from them and that we
• 1:12:49
  can understand what they can do this
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  behavior. Although it might seem small to
• 1:12:54
  some this reshapes what we know about
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  work intelligence and culture.
• 1:13:00
  It reaffirms what we think that they can
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  do, but also brings us to another level
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  in terms of what they can do.
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  So it calls for like broader conservation
• 1:13:10
  measures to understand like the
• 1:13:12
  protection, not just of the species, but
• 1:13:14
  of their traditions. And this also has a
• 1:13:17
  big tie probably to the indigenous
• 1:13:19
  populations that know them that have
• 1:13:21
  cultural ties to them.
• 1:13:22
  There are some indigenous population. I
• 1:13:24
  don't know if it's all who believe that
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  when their elders die or pass away or
• 1:13:27
  somebody from their community passes
• 1:13:30
  away, they become the orcas.
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  This is very close to tying to their
• 1:13:34
  cultural feelings and very close to the
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  time to like how they learn from the
• 1:13:37
  orcas and how the orcas learn from them.
• 1:13:39
  Right? So there's a lot of stuff going on
• 1:13:42
  here and it's a big deal probably bigger
• 1:13:45
  than you think of like, Oh, that's cool.
• 1:13:46
  Yeah, they can use kelp to kind of like
• 1:13:48
  exfoliate themselves. That's kind of
• 1:13:49
  cool. No, no, no, this is bigger than
• 1:13:51
  that. It shows how intelligent
• 1:13:53
  they are, how they use tools.
• 1:13:55
  And it's the first time we've ever seen
• 1:13:56
  something like this other than hunting,
• 1:13:59
  which we already know they're smart at.
• 1:14:00
  So I want to bring this to your
• 1:14:01
  attention. I think it's really important.
• 1:14:03
  I'd love to hear what you think. Put your
• 1:14:04
  comments down below.
• 1:14:06
  If you're watching this on YouTube or if
• 1:14:07
  you're listening to this on your favorite
• 1:14:08
  podcast app, you can email me by going to
• 1:14:11
  speak up for blue.com forward slash
• 1:14:13
  contact fill out the form. It goes right
• 1:14:15
  to my email or you can contact me just DM
• 1:14:17
  me on Instagram at how
• 1:14:20
  to protect the ocean.
• 1:14:20
  That's at how to protect the ocean. I
• 1:14:22
  hope you enjoyed this episode as much as
• 1:14:24
  I did telling you all about it and
• 1:14:26
  recording it. This has been another
• 1:14:28
  episode of the how to protect the ocean
• 1:14:29
  podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin from
• 1:14:31
  the true north strong and free for a lot
• 1:14:33
  of this happened in Canada. Have a great
• 1:14:36
  day. We'll talk to you next
• 1:14:37
  time and happy conservation.