I was apparently not done with killer whales yet.

[damselfish]

Huh.

So I'm pretty much done writing my killer whale comedy of manners, inspired by some of the info here. Allow me to quote in relevant part:

“For resident males, there’s an advantage to staying with mom. And that’s the fact that females are very gregarious,” [Dr. Naomi Rose] explained. “When multiple pods get together, the females gravitate toward each other and have their own sewing circles, or whatever.” That intensive socializing gave their sons “instant entrée to all those unrelated girls.” The son might hook up with the daughters of his mother’s friends, or even with his mothers’ friends themselves. Naomi had seen adolescent males who were sexually mature but not yet socially mature hanging with post-reproductive grandmas. “I think it’s literally a ‘Mrs. Robinson’ situation,” Naomi said. “That female may be past menopause but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to have sex. And this young guy, who’s got lots of get-up-and-go but no reproductive female that’s going to give him the time of day, she’ll hang out with him.”

I've seen a lot of documentaries on killer whales. They all follow basically the exact same model: a segment on carousel feeding, on beaching for seals, wave washing, the grey whale hunt, maybe some beach rubbing, discussion of transients v. residents, some talk about matrilines.

But what I apparently really want is the gossip. I read this section and went "no! No way! Internet you're pulling my chain!" but apparently this comes straight from the mouth of senior scientist for the Humane Society and oh my God why doesn't any of this make it into documentaries, this is the stuff that would really keep me glued to the screen! It's like Georgette Heyer, for whales! I could just imagine them having fancy parties and following stiff Victorian rules of social behavior that stand between them and getting laid....

Okay maybe not Victorian since I don't write that. But that's the first thing that sprang to mind.

I've found some tantalizing segments or info mentioned in just one place and nowhere else, or adjacent to other facts. Things that made me raise my eyebrows. Sentences sandwiched between things Attenborough has already said and would come as no surprise to anyone.

Like, oh: [Male only social interactions] last several minutes to a few hours and usually involve non-kin. The most common behavior is socio-sexual, including “frequent body contact, percussive and aerial behaviors and penile displays.”

Why yes, I did in fact write a love triangle that goes in all directions. Because SCIENCE.