Watch the moment two orcas were caught on camera “kissing” in the wild for the first time.
Remarkable footage shows the pair of killer whales nibbling each other’s tongues for almost two minutes before parting and swimming away.
The unusual interaction was captured by a group of nature tourists on a snorkelling expedition in the Norwegian Fjords in October 2024.
In a paper published in the journal Oceans on June 11 analysing the behaviour, the researchers described the interaction as “repeated episodes of gentle, face-to-face oral contact”.
Study author Dr Javier Almunia told Live Science: “This behaviour appears to serve affiliative purposes and may play a role in reinforcing social bonds or resolving conflicts, akin to grooming or reconciliation behaviours in other highly social species.”
