Male killer whales protected by post-menopausal mothers, study suggests

Resident Killer whales spyhopping (Katie Jones/Centre for Whale Research)

Post-menopausal female killer whales protect their sons – but not their daughters – from fights with other whales, a new study suggests.

When they looked at tooth rake marks – the scarring left when one whale scrapes their teeth across the skin of another – scientists found males had fewer marks if their mother was around and had stopped breeding.