Socializing is defined as playful activity or physical interactions between whales. It is important to note that orcas do not exhibit violent behavior towards each other or even to their captors. In fact, orcas are very playful animals, and enjoy chasing each other, playing with kelp and surfing in boat wakes. However, orcas are most renowned for their spectacular aerial displays, such as breaching, where they leap out of the water and land on their back or side. Although these activities are defined as socializing they may serve to herd or stun fish, or represent a form of communication.
Tail, fluke or flipper slapping is often seen after resting, while lobtailing, a similar manoever, is an aggressive activity where orcas swing their tails, often at boats. Orcas also engage in spyhopping, where the head is lifted straight up out of the water, allowing the whale to navigate by terrestrial [or possibly astronomical] features and spot boats or other obstacles. Other activities are less easy to translate. Logging, for example, is not sleep yet the Orcas lie motionless, all facing the same direction and float on the surface of the water together. Experts have suggested that they may be relaxing.
Other activities do not have a human equivalent, such as the greeting ceremonies of the Southern communities. Here the pods will approach each other in line formation and then stop about 20 metres away from each other. After a short time they will swim towards each other and become extremely excited as they engage in physical caresses, swim in tight groups, and often display erections. This activity occurs when the pods first meet each other after the winter absence or before departing. It has also been recently associated with the presence of a sick pod member.
The Northern community also has a unique social activity that they perform at a specific location, called the rubbing beach. Whales will visit the beach several times in a day and rub their bodies on the smooth flat stones of the beach for an hour or more. No one is sure why they prefer these stones and this beach to others, nor why they do it. Fortunately, it has now been designated as an orca whale habitat called the Robson Bight Ecological Preserve and is off limits to boats and hikers.
