Norway Orcas Hunt Herring as a Team: 2025 Drone Study
From a boat, a group of orcas hunting herring looks like beautiful chaos: fins, splashes, silver fish everywhere. From a drone high above, researchers saw something much more organised.
Do orcas in Norway hunt herring as a team? A 2025 study in Current Biology says yes, with roles. Researchers used drones to follow killer whale behaviour along the Norwegian coast and tested how group members divide the work while feeding. Their findings point to spatial coordination, meaning who is where and how individuals interact, as part of how a group hunt succeeds. The study's title sums it up: coordinated hunting with a division of labour increases feeding success.
Why herring make the story
In northern Norway, winter herring draw both predators and people. Orcas and humpback whales feed on the fish, and the herring's movements help shape where all that wildlife activity happens.
That is why "orca season" is never a fixed appointment. The prey moves, and the whales follow the food.
When orcas feed, people watching may see fish pushed into dense schools, with whales working around them. This study helps researchers look at what each individual adds. It stops treating a pod as one black-and-white fin with a soundtrack.
What does the study not tell us?
It does not mean every group hunts in the same way. It does not mean every hunt is visible at the surface. And it does not mean the animals will be in a particular fjord on a particular date. It is a behavioural study, not a visitor forecast.
A close encounter is also never more important than the animals' meal. A group of whales concentrating on prey should be given room to feed. Boats and swimmers should not cut across its path.
The bit I find extraordinary
The more we learn about orcas, the harder it is to call them a simple wildlife attraction. They are social predators working together in a moving ocean, following the same herring that local fisheries are watching.
A good trip lets you witness that story from a respectful distance. A truly good one is still a good day if the whales are somewhere else. For the seasonal picture, see Norway in the Ocean Atlas.
Questions people ask
What did the 2025 drone study find?
Drone video showed that the positions and interactions of killer whales can help coordinate a group hunt. The researchers tested how group members divide roles while feeding.
Does this mean orcas will be at a certain fjord at a certain time?
No. It is a behavioural study, not a visitor forecast. The herring move, and the whales follow the food.
Do all orca groups hunt this way?
The study does not say that. It does not mean every group hunts in the same way, or that every hunt is visible at the surface.
How should people behave around feeding whales?
Give them room to feed. Boats and swimmers should not cut across the path of a group that is concentrating on prey.
Wildlife encounters are never guaranteed and never forced. Ocean Calling works only with vetted, ethical local operators, and every animal is free to approach, or not, entirely on its own terms.
Sources & further reading
- Current Biology (2025). Spatially coordinated predation with division of labor increases feeding success in killer whales.
- PubMed record for the study.
Further reading on Ocean Calling: Norway’s orcas and the herring run · Orca pod family structure · Orca in the Ocean Atlas · Norway in the Ocean Atlas
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