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Comment by a11r | Hacker News Reader

The hypothesis at the end of the article assumes humpback whales are just acting instinctively. I think it is much more likely that the whales are able to reason that denying other prey to their babies' predator is a good thing. In addition to keeping the orca population in check and reducing the energy available to them, the humpbacks might also be fully capable of holding a grudge.

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Instinctively? Dunno, whales seem pretty smart. They communicate, they take care of their young, have advanced feeding strategies, and interesting interactions with humans.

Seems quite plausible they understand the relationship between feeding, reproduction, and population growth. They are clearly aware that killer whales feed on baby humpback whales. Doesn't seem a stretch that humpbacks would do whatever they can to prevent killer whales from feeding.

I think holding a grudge is entirely reasonable. If crows are able to recognize faces of people who feed them or harm them and spread that information among themselves, it stands to reason that whales might have the same sort of social behaviors.

Agreed. “You’re a dick, no food for you” seems much more plausible than “seals are cute, so I’ll be nice”.

Where in the article does it state 'cute' was a factor?

You can also argue the other way round. Just let them have it would save their attacks on us humpback babies. Not humpback anyway.

Starving them with non-humpback, they might try ...

selfish conclusion should be not saving.

That is why this silly logic is just a non-answer.

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