Researchers have documented three separate encounters in which Icelandic killer whales swam close to newborn long-finned pilot whales—in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The observations do not prove a bond, adoption or rescue. Predation, play, hunting practice and caregiving have all been considered, but the encounters were not observed from beginning to end, so the whales’ motives remain unknown.
What happened in the three encounters?
The reports describe three different encounters in west and south Iceland, not one calf repeatedly traveling with the same orcas. The 2025 study identifies different killer whales in its 2022 and 2023 cases; the 2021 sighting was a separate event.
| Date and location | What researchers observed |
|---|---|
| August 12, 2021, west of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula | During a 21-minute observation, a newborn pilot whale calf described as emaciated stayed beside and slightly behind a female orca identified as SN0540, “Sædís.” The group included two adult females and an adult male. The calf was absent at the group’s next confirmed sighting in March 2022. Mrusczok et al. (2023) |
| June 23, 2022, off Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar area | A neonate appeared in ten instances in compiled video; in eight, it surfaced slightly before an orca. An orca stayed close behind and appeared to nudge the calf toward the surface, but the researchers could not tell whether this was affiliative or agonistic. The group also showed signs of foraging, likely on herring. The calf was not seen again later that field season. Baumgartner et al. (2025) |
| June 20, 2023, south Iceland | A neonate repeatedly swam beside adult female IS069 in echelon position, and was also seen a few meters ahead of the group, possibly moving evasively. At one point an orca lifted the calf out of the water; the individual’s identity was uncertain. The next day, researchers found the orca group without the calf. It was not seen again later that season. Baumgartner et al. (2025) |
Why might orcas swim with pilot-whale calves?
The researchers consider several explanations. None is established, and they need not be mutually exclusive: individuals in a group could have reacted differently to a calf.
Predation
Killer whales prey on marine mammals in some populations, so the 2025 authors do not rule out occasional predation. However, they report no clear signs of predation in the two south Iceland encounters and describe the orcas involved as likely fish specialists. That makes predation less supported by those observations, not impossible.
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Play or hunting practice
Close approaches, surface activity, nudging and lifting could be consistent with play or practice hunting. But those actions alone do not reveal intent. In the 2022 encounter, researchers specifically could not determine whether the close interaction was affiliative or agonistic.
Caregiving
Swimming beside an adult female resembles infant-carrying behavior documented among cetaceans of the same species. The 2021 field note called its interpretation “apparent alloparental behavior,” but that wording is an interpretation, not proof. The observations do not establish nursing, adoption, a mutual relationship or an enduring bond.
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What scientists can—and cannot—conclude
The central limitation is that neither south Iceland interaction was observed from start to finish. The University of Iceland record reproduces the 2025 study’s conclusion: “However, because neither interaction between killer whales and a pilot whale neonate was observed from start to end, the true motivation and function of the interactions remain unknown.”
The calves’ origins and eventual outcomes are also unknown. Researchers did not establish whether they were separated from their mothers, how long they remained near orcas, or what happened to them after the reported sightings. Their later absence from observations does not by itself show that they were killed or eaten.
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How much do the observation counts tell us?
The 2025 study reports two south Iceland encounters, based on fieldwork that included 43 observation days in 2022 and 38 in 2023. Researchers collected 36.5 minutes of acoustic recordings for the 2022 encounter; they detected no pilot-whale vocalizations assignable to the calf in those recordings. The 2023 killer-whale group contained eight animals, including identified adults, an adult-sized individual of unknown sex and juveniles. The separate 2021 observation lasted 21 minutes, according to Mrusczok et al. (2023).
These figures describe particular research observations, survey effort, group size and recording duration. They are not population estimates and do not show how common such encounters are.
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Is the question settled?
No. NAMMCO’s 2024 Iceland progress report, published in 2025, says pilot-whale research continued through photo-identification and behavioral observations, with a focus on killer-whale interactions in Vestmannaeyjar, Breiðafjörður Bay and along the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. That documents continuing research, not a resolution of the calves’ fates or the reason for the interactions.
For now, the evidence supports a striking observation rather than a settled story: Icelandic orcas have been seen close to neonate long-finned pilot whales, but whether those interactions involved care, play, practice hunting or predation remains unknown.
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