A harbor seal narrowly escaped a group of orcas by climbing aboard a boat rented by amateur wildlife photographer Charvet Drucker off Camano Island in Washington. | Washington Post

A new 20-year study analyzed 34 remarkable encounters showing orcas—also known as killer whales—offering gifts like fish, birds, or even seaweed to humans in regions including California, New Zealand, Patagonia, and Norway. In nearly every case, the orcas appeared to wait for a response, and some even repeated the gesture if people didn’t react—suggesting these offerings were intentional, not random. Orcas are already known to share food within their pods to strengthen social bonds. Now, scienti