The wisdom of post-menopausal killer whales

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Female orca stop giving birth to offspring in their forties but continue to live for decades. Killer whales are like humans in this respect, almost uniquely in the animal kingdom. In research aimed at understanding why this life history strategy might evolve, Darren Croft and his colleagues have discovered that old whale matriarchs are vital in leading their family groups to the salmon on which their study population depends for survival. They’ve also found a particularly tight bond between these old matriarchs and their fully grown adult sons. As Prof Croft tells Victoria Gill, an old mother will even catch salmon and preferentially give it to her 6 tonne mummy’s boy. Photo credit: © Jane Cogan