I suspect that many of you have seen this before, but it’s new to me. I drove out to Custom Box Service the other day, where Nick and Jeff just had to show me this animal intelligence video.
What happens if you’re a penguin being chased by a pod of killer whales? How do you escape? Well, if there are a bunch of tourists in a nearby boat, the answer’s pretty obvious:
Very funny stuff. I particularly like how the penguin is cuddling up next to one of the passengers near the end of this.
Of course, you could argue that the penguin knows that to get out of the reach of the orcas it needs to be out of the water and simply took the most expedient course available. That doesn’t imply anything about its intelligence other than it knows how to get out of the reach of orcas.
I’m so glad that the little penguin escaped the orcas by getting into the boat! I love penguins! I have a little bit of trouble seeing You Tube videos — not sure why my machine is like that. I did see the little guy at the end, when he was in the boat and with the passenger. I wonder what they did with him after that?
I get why it’s funny, but I would not be so happy if I were those tourists; orcas will belly-launch right up on the ice to get meals – what’s to prevent one from swamping the boat in the same fashion? They clearly know where the penguin went. Because pushing it overboard immediately would likely risk mutiny from a crowd like this (but I’d argue it’s ethical) the equitable thing to do would be to return the boat to the mothership immediately, and then free the penguin a ways away. What a position for a tour operator to find him/herself in.
I grew up in Alaska; my husband was once dragged around by a huge sea lion when he slipped off the harbor dock where he was working. He’s lucky to be alive. Given the death of the Sea World trainer this past week, I think it ought to be clear that orcas will similarly pursue in the wild.