Orcas Spotted Using Kelp as Grooming Tools

Orcas filmed making out in the wild for first time

Footage captures a pair of orcas nibbling each other's tongues in the Kvænangen fjords in northern Norway. Scientists think this rarely seen behavior could play a role in social bonding.

Heartwarming whale act documented in new research

The behaviour likely plays an important role in their social lives, researchers say.

Southern Resident Orcas Observed Grooming Each Other With Seaweed in First Documented Tool-Making by a Marine Mammal

Orca whales have been observed biting off lengths of kelp and using the strands to massage each other — the first known evidence of marine mammals making tools. A group of killer whales off the coast of the United States and Canada were seen removing the ends of seaweed stalks, putting them between their bodies and rolling them for long periods, likely for play and to strengthen social bonds, and possibly to remove parasites or dead skill cells.…

Captain’s Log: A Whale of an Itch and a Kelp Scratch

It was a long June day, and I ran my boat WaveWalker with passengers onboard and my ever-faithful crew member Capt. Tiffany Vague, along the coast to a lush and healthy kelp bed near La Conchita. Once we got lines in the water, calico bass were biting well enough to keep us interested, and the great coastal scenery was a wonderful bonus. After an hour of fishing, I spotted a gray whale spouting just a couple hundred yards away. I called everyone…

Video, photos capture whales grooming themselves, and each other with kelp

This is the first documented evidence of its kind of marine mammals fashioning tools out of objects in their environment, according to the Center for Whale Research.

Orcas discovered making tools from seaweed to ‘massage’ each other

“We were amazed when we first noticed this behavior,” said Michael Weiss, research director at the Center for Whale Research in the U.S. state of Washington. What started as a puzzling observation in drone footage revealed something unexpected: killer whales are making tools from a type of seaweed called kelp. The behavior, dubbed “allokelping” (kelping with another whale), represents the first evidence of toolmaking by marine mammals. The findi…