Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales

Abstract

The manufacture and use of tools, while widespread in terrestrial animals1, has been less frequently reported in marine taxa2. In cetaceans, clear examples of tool use are largely restricted to foraging contexts, with no reports of cetaceans fashioning tools by modifying objects. Here, we report evidence of the widespread manufacture and use of allogrooming tools in a population of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca ater).