- These whales are real fashionistas and wellness experts.
Wellness fads come and wellness fads go. It seems that every year, there’s a new strange or potentially fatal health trend.
However, it turns out that it’s not just humans inventing new wellness crazes.
Orcas can do it, too. Researchers recently observed that a specific pod of orcas has invented a seaweed massage.
Not only does that sound like something you could get at an overpriced spa, but it works similarly, too. The orcas will break off a thick frond of seaweed, find a massage buddy, and rub the seaweed against each other.
There’s seemingly no other point to the practice that it feels good and probably helps the orcas stay healthier. This practice of using seaweed for massage therapy marks a whole slew of world firsts for animal tool use.
Then again, it’s really not a surprise that this orca pod invented the seaweed massage. After all, they’ve previously pioneered the bold fashion statement of wearing dead salmon as hats.
No, we’re not making that up.
You Scratch My Back…
The news of the seaweed massage practice was published recently in the journal Current Biology. In the study, a group of biologists details bizarre behavior by a pod of orcas.
This pod lives in the Salish Sea, which borders the U.S. state of Washington and Canada’s British Columbia. They’re pretty nice as far as killer whales go, as they’re a strictly fish-eating orca group.
They also enjoy relaxing spa sessions, apparently. Flying a drone over the orcas, they noticed the whales engaging in unusual grooming practices.
According to the researchers, the orcas will break off a long piece of bull kelp, a type of seaweed. They’ll then swim off in search of a massage partner.
“They’ll use their teeth and the movement of their heads and their bodies to break off about a two-foot-long length of that kelp’s stem, or stipe, then approach another whale and flip it onto their rostrum, or their kind of nose, and press that kelp against the side of their partner,” Michael Weiss from the Center for Whale Research told LiveScience.
Once they find a willing buddy, the whales will finagle the seaweed frond so that it’s wedged between their sides. Then, they’ll roll it back and forth against each other for as long as 15 minutes.
Both male and female orcas in the group enjoy a good massage. The researchers can only assume the practice helps the whales get rid of dead skin and potential parasites, in addition to just feeling nice.
This marks, among others, the first witnessed case of tool manufacture by a marine mammal. In addition, it’s the first time a wild animal has been seen to use a tool to benefit two individuals at once. Finally, it’s the first case where a non-human animal has manipulated a tool with its body, instead of an appendage.
Whale Fashion
Using kelp as a massage tool is a real groundbreaking discovery. But if any group of orcas was going to do it, it makes sense that it’s this one.
After all, the orcas have a history of being trendsetters. Previously, they’ve been known for pioneering new forms of whale fashion.
Specifically, they invented the practice of wearing dead salmon on their heads.
The fish-wearing fad was first spotted in the summer of 1987. While humans were sporting padded shoulders, bright neon colors, and high-waist jeans, the orcas were swimming around with salmon carcasses placed on their heads.
Like many people fashion trends, this all started with one female’s bold statement of donning a salmon hat. Within weeks, virtually all the pod’s orcas were doing it.
And then, as it often happens with fashion trends, the fish hats fell off. However, as it often happens with fashion trends, they came back in vogue in 2024.
Last summer, biologists noticed that the whales were wearing salmon on their heads again. They suspect that the trend was brought back by old individuals who participated in the first craze decades ago.
But why are the orcas using salmon carcasses as hats? Well, your guess is as good as anyone’s.
Biologists guess that the whales could be transporting a snack for later on their heads. Then again, the timing of the fashion trend coincides with abundant salmon stocks, so they may simply have enough food to play around with.
Or perhaps they think a dead salmon hat simply looks fabulous. Hey, it’s a better orca fad than sinking boats.