Orca						May/June 1995
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	In many animals, emotions are difficult to detect.  I'm not so
certain if this animal has emotions, or that animal doesn't, and it's
largely due to that other, "non-human" animals vary in size, structure,
colour, and in numerous other ways, differing qui te a bit from humans. 
It is hard to see things as a cat might, or as a gerbil.  Because of these
differences, it seems that people often presume these other animals don't
have emotions, that their many different colours, shapes, and sizes are
simply here to beautify our world, make our lives more interesting and
more colourful.  I have difficulty with this assumption, but I have no
proof that says that a llama feels emotions, or that a pigeon feels
emotions.  In fact, I have difficulty with any assumptions humans make,
especially when considering that many of these assumptions aren't tested
and certainly not proven;  "I suppose so, I've got authority because I can
think, therefore it's true." 
	Unlike observers of many other animals, a person who spends a bit
of time with an orca (or two orcas, or three, so on) may observe behaviours
and communications which do demonstrate not only intelligence (such as
when two or more orcas work to perfect a sequence of motions, and then
quit so soon as they have perfected their "dance," of sorts), but
something that would be labeled "emotion" by any human who might be
watching.  This is not to say that other animals are not capable of
emotions -- it's just that with the size of the orca, the way that they
are able to captivate people, and the fact that they are social in a way
that we compare to, their emotions are much more noticeable to us humans. 
Presuming, of course (as I also have a way of doing), that other animals
do feel some sort of emotions.  =)
	I will relate a few stories, stories which you are probably
familiar with, of orca who have displayed emotion as we describe it -- the
feeling of pain, or pleasure, and the reaction to -- and a few observed
traits as explanations as to why I believe that orca have emotions. 
	Corky had been removed from her pod at a very young age, too young
to learn how to nurse her young, and was forced to watch her calf starve
to death because of her inability to feed it ("it" only because I do not
know whether it was male or female).  When the people removed the body of
her calf out of the water, Corky thrashed violently (is there any other
way?) against the sides of her tank, wailing in protest.  Then, after they
had taken her calf, she settled at the bottom of the tank, coming up only
to breathe, ignoring her mate, Orky, in his attempts to cheer her. 
Finally, Orky won over and Corky joined him once again, "chatting" and
diving.  In human terms, I would describe Corky's actions as displaying
grief, mourning.  Humans also display a lack of interest in things and 
people normally interesting to them on the death of a close relation.  On 
top of that, Corky eventually found solace in her mate, also true to 
human behaviours.  It is easy to see emotions in animals when the 
emotions are comparable to our own.  It is hard to observe behaviours 
and emotions comparable to our own in an animal so small and dissimilar 
to ourselves as a bird, for example.
	In another instance were two whales, Haida and Chimo. 
(Interesting to me was that Chimo was albino -- would that be completely
white, or what?  I would very much liked to have seen her.) A few weeks
after the completion of a documentary that Chimo and Haida "starred" in,
Chimo died.  Haida, as had Corky, displayed grief, mourning, or at least
self-pity.  (Humans, at least, are very adept at this.  =)- ) He also
settled at the bottom of the tank, not eating, surfacing only to breathe. 
A flautist by the name of Paul Horn came to cheer up the grieving Haida
through his music, visiting Haida every day for a week.  During the first
two days, Haida remained at the bottom of the tank, appearing
disinterested in the music and the surroundings.  At the end of
the second day, Paul feigned anger, annoyance with Haida's behaviour.  He
threatened Haida (I imagine through gestures, as well as the tone and
volume of his voice), saying that if Haida didn't begin to show some sort
of interest in his music, well, then, it wasn't worth it for Paul to come
and play for him.  He would just have to quit coming.  After this feigned
display of anger, Haida began to show an interest in the music.  By the
end of the week that Paul spent there, Haida was almost back to himself,
almost behaving normally.  Once again, a period of mourning followed by a
period of rejuvination in which old interests begin to interest the
mourner again.
	Aside from these, observers have noticed that when pods of orca
interact with other pods, the voices of the orca involved become
higher-pitched, and they chat with higher frequency -- that is to say,
they call more frequently than they do when communicating amongst their
pod members. (On a side, the individuals of one pod will share the same
repertoire of calls.  Pods that associate with one another frequently
share certain calls, but the vocal differences between the two pods are
sufficiently distinct to allow humans to identify the pod by the sounds
they make.  This doesn't apply for transients, who, though very
widespread, share one dialect.  Actually, there might be slight
differences between the calls of one transient pod and another, but
they're minute if they exist at all.) Comparably, when humans come into
contact with relatives or friends whom they have not seen for quite a
while, their voices sometimes become high-pitched, and they tend to
chatter, making up for lost time, showing the excitement they feel. 
Aside from when different pods interact, transients will vocalise
extensively, loudly, after making a kill, a noise that some researchers
have compared to human cheers after winning an award, a war, or something
equally significant. 
	Alexandra Morton has also noticed some behaviours that might be
displays of emotion.  One younger calf sneaked up to the boat and, as Alex
wasn't aware of his presence (and he knew it!), he exhaled loudly,
frightening her at first, but then amusing her.  She interpreted it as a
sort of "cetacean joke" and laughed at the calf's antics.  This, I think,
displays a sense of humour.  Alex also believed that a teenage resident
whale was joking with her when he would repeatedly charge the boat, and
then dive to avoid missing it.  No harm done here.  
	I am certain that orca feel emotions, and that they are
intelligent creatures.  Convincing people of the intelligence of the orca
isn't something that would take a long time, I think, if a person were to
spend a few moments with an orca, or to read accounts of people who have
observed them.
	I do not know if other animals, familiar animals such as cats or
dogs, feel emotions.  I am certain, though, that orcas do; the size and
behaviours, as well as the similarities to humans (grief, joy, curiosity,
jokes) make it so much easier to attribute many of their actions to emotions.