Killer whales have complex social circles and close friends just like humans, drone study finds

Researchers were ‘amazed’ to see how much contact there is between the animals, as Leonie Chao-Fong reports

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Killer whales have complex social circles that include close friendships, a new study shows.

Researchers have discovered that orcas spend more time interacting with certain other individual whales in their pod and tend to favour those of the same sex and similar age.

The project, led by the University of Exeter and the Centre for Whale Research (CWR), used drones to film the animals in the water.