I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT STUMPY PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MAKE THE POST AS LONG AND RAMBLING AS YOU LIKE I'M REALLY CURIOUS ABOUT HER SHE'S SUCH A CUTIE
-cracks knuckles and settles down with tea and biscuits- Just remember - you asked for this <3 (Also i will try to give this some structure but .. we shall see how that ends up.) Stumpy’s Identification number is X163 . She is a female orca from Norway. Specifically Tysfjord, Vestfjord and Øksfjord (all areas where she has been spotted) When she was first sighted in 1996 she and another orca (her presumed mother) were with NE15 pod (a pod Stumpy has been sighted with the most) She had an injury to the dorsal fin, severe damage to the left ribcage and an injury to the spine, which is presumed to be in a boat collision, without the injury to the dorsal/ribcage it would have been presumed that Stumpy had structural spinal deformity as orcas with a similar body profile have also been witnessed. After she did not show up the next season it was presumed she had succumbed to her injuries but she showed up again in 2002 still going strong!
Also when she was first spotted, she was presumed male. This fact was changed when she was later spotted and she had not sprouted (a term given to a male orca who’s dorsal grows out) Stumpy’s deformities obviously impair her movements. She cannot dive very deep underwater as she does not have the strength in her tail. She also requires two tail movements to a normal orca’s one tail flick when swimming, She also has to stabilize herself often with her pectorals. Other than impaired swimming, Stumpy is also (despite being 19-20 years old) only about the size of a small calf. She is often witnessed in the calf position, using other orcas slipstream to keep up. [Opinion not fact] In my view i think that is because of the extra kinetic movements she needs to keep up, perhaps its stunting her growth. It could also be that her deformity had meant she is unable to grow much larger as her spine could not manoeuvre the extra weight causing it too much strain.
However other than physically Stumpy has no problems, she is a very social orca- and has been cared for and provisioned by nearly 11 pods in the Fjords. This could be down to the tight knit of the fjord orca, as they were subject to intense whaling between 1960-80 the compensatory mechanisms could have kicked in which led to such pro-social behaviour shown to towards stumpy, perhaps because she is female perhaps because of her condition- sadly we may never know.
She has been witnessed being provisioned by 5 out of the 11 pods she has been seen with so it is presumed that they all provision her. In particular the NE15 and NE5 are the pod she is witnessed with often, She changes pods a couple of times a month. (Observations during autumn) Its possible she is a relative of NE5/15 which could be why she is with them so often. The pods care for stumpy very well, and seem to know what’s best for her! Often shielding her from passing boats and adult males allowing her to swim in their wake- which must be much easier on the tail! Its possible that stumpy gets left behind by other pods whom are travelling faster and hooks up with other passing pods whom all seem to know and want to help Stumpy. Its also possible that the pod she is with passes her along to the next pod possibly making sure she is never on her own. Norwegian orca typically eat a diet of Herring, Salmon, Eider Ducks, Little auk, Jellyfish and often bigger mammals such as Harbour Porpoise, Minke Whales and Grey. When Stumpy has been witnessed to being provisioned (given food) the adult orca will bite the food in half and allow the other half to float to stumpy. This was witnessed as purposeful behaviour in 2012 as a film crew were witness to an adult orca biting a Salmon in half for stumpy, something the adult orca could have easily swallowed whole. Stumpy when she was younger did not take an active role in Hunting, she would stay off to the side of the feeding group. As she got older she was witnessed mimicking the swimming patterns of other hunting/feeding orca and it appeared she aided in at least the vocal side of hunting. So yea that’s pretty much all about stumpy that is known, but that isn’t explaining why she is so special to scientists and everyone…. Basically in most other creatures, its survival of the fittest - if a member of the group became gravely wounded or born with deformities they are left behind and they die. But with orcas (as with a few other members of the animal kingdom) Stumpy is a prime example that orca’s like the navy don’t leave a man behind.
She proves that orca have a social structure kind of like ours, the pro-social behaviour (voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another) even if the orca is not a member of their pod. This behaviour and compassion i think surpasses humans, because we have to deal with many issues surrounding making a living our compassion has been dulled whereas orcas seem happy to care for and teach a whale like stumpy.
Its not a behaviour just in Norway however (which makes me think about the theory that she is only cared for so well because of compensatory mechanisms) its been seen in South African Pods, New Zealand pods and in other cetaceans too.
But Stumpy is a great ambassador to learn from don’t you think? She important to me for a few personal reasons too, it’s just amazing to see that although she must struggle for every movement (and of course whales don’t technically sleep ) she just keeps on going fighting the current moving on and powering through the waves ! (okay perhaps thats a stretch but you see where im going with this?) She fights everyday to just keep moving.
If that isn’t like a kick up the butt for people i don’t know what is. -gold star if you read all that i think it hit 1000 words-
