Considerations on intelligence of wild orcas vs captive orcas
I’ve updated to thinking it’s relatively likely that wild orcas are significantly smarter than captive orcas, because (1) wild orcas might learn proper language and captive orcas don’t, and (2) generally orcas don’t have much to learn in captivity, causing their brains to be underdeveloped.
Here are the most relevant observations:
Observation 1: (If I analyzed the data correctly and the data is correct,) all orcas currently alive in captivity have been either born in captivity or captured when they were at most 3-4 years old.[1] I think there never were any captive orcas that survived for more than a few months that were not captured at <7 years age, but not sure. (EDIT: Namu (the first captive orca) was ~10y, but he died after a year. Could be that I missed more cases where older orcas survived.)
Observation 2: (Less centrally relevant, but included for completeness:) It takes young orcas ca 1.5 years until the calls they vocalize aren’t easily distinguishable from calls of other orcas by orca researchers. (However, as mentioned in the OP, it’s possible the calls are only used for long distance communication and orcas have a more sophisticated language at higher frequencies.)
Ovservation 3: Orcas in captivity don’t get much stimulation.
Observation 4: Genie[2]. Summary from claude-3.7[3]:
Genie, discovered in 1970 at age 13, was a victim of extreme abuse and isolation who spent her formative years confined to a small room with minimal human interaction. Despite intensive rehabilitation efforts following her rescue, Genie’s cognitive impairments proved permanent. Her IQ remained in the moderate intellectual disability range, with persistent difficulties in abstract reasoning, spatial processing, and problem-solving abilities. Her language development, while showing some progress, remained severely limited. She acquired a vocabulary of several hundred words and could form basic sentences, but never developed proper grammar or syntax. This case provides evidence for the critical period hypothesis of language acquisition, though it’s complicated by the multiple forms of deprivation she experienced simultaneously. Genie’s case illustrates how early environmental deprivation can cause permanent cognitive and linguistic deficits that resist remediation, even with extensive intervention and support.
Inferences:
If orcas need input from cognitively well-developed orcas (or richer environmental stimulation) for becoming cognitively well-developed, no orca in captivity became cognitively well-developed.
Captive orcas could be cognitively impaired roughly similarly to how Genie was. Of course, there might have been other factors contributing to the disability of Genie, but it seems likely that abstract intelligence isn’t just innate but also requires stimulation for being learned.
(Of course, it’s possible that wild orcas don’t really learn abstract reasoning either, and instead just hunting or so.)
Can be checked from table here. (I checked it a few months ago and I think back then there was another “(estimated) birthdate” column which made the checking easier (rather than calculating from “age”), but possible I misremember.)
Children raised in severely understaffed Romanian orphanages during the Ceaușescu era showed lasting deficits:
Those adopted after age 6 months showed persistent cognitive impairments
Later-adopted children (after age 2) showed more severe and permanent deficits
Brain scans revealed reduced brain volume and activity that persisted into adolescence
Cognitive impairments correlated with duration of institutionalization
The Bucharest Early Intervention Project
This randomized controlled study followed institutionalized children who were either:
Placed in foster care at different ages, or
Remained in institutional care
Key findings:
Children placed in foster care before age 2 showed significant cognitive recovery
Those placed after age 2 showed persistent IQ deficits despite intervention
Executive functioning deficits remained even with early intervention
Isolated Cases: Isabelle and Victor
Isabelle: Discovered at age 6 after being isolated with her deaf-mute mother, showed initial severe impairments but made remarkable recovery with intervention, demonstrating that recovery is still possible before age 6-7
Victor (the “Wild Boy of Aveyron”): Found at approximately age 12, made limited progress despite years of dedicated intervention, similar to Genie
Of course, it’s possible there’s survivorship bias and actually a larger fraction recover. It’s also possible that cognitive deficits are rather due to malnurishment or so.
Considerations on intelligence of wild orcas vs captive orcas
I’ve updated to thinking it’s relatively likely that wild orcas are significantly smarter than captive orcas, because (1) wild orcas might learn proper language and captive orcas don’t, and (2) generally orcas don’t have much to learn in captivity, causing their brains to be underdeveloped.
Here are the most relevant observations:
Observation 1: (If I analyzed the data correctly and the data is correct,) all orcas currently alive in captivity have been either born in captivity or captured when they were at most 3-4 years old.[1] I think there never were any captive orcas that survived for more than a few months that were not captured at <7 years age, but not sure. (EDIT: Namu (the first captive orca) was ~10y, but he died after a year. Could be that I missed more cases where older orcas survived.)
Observation 2: (Less centrally relevant, but included for completeness:) It takes young orcas ca 1.5 years until the calls they vocalize aren’t easily distinguishable from calls of other orcas by orca researchers. (However, as mentioned in the OP, it’s possible the calls are only used for long distance communication and orcas have a more sophisticated language at higher frequencies.)
Ovservation 3: Orcas in captivity don’t get much stimulation.
Observation 4: Genie[2]. Summary from claude-3.7[3]:
Inferences:
If orcas need input from cognitively well-developed orcas (or richer environmental stimulation) for becoming cognitively well-developed, no orca in captivity became cognitively well-developed.
Captive orcas could be cognitively impaired roughly similarly to how Genie was. Of course, there might have been other factors contributing to the disability of Genie, but it seems likely that abstract intelligence isn’t just innate but also requires stimulation for being learned.
(Of course, it’s possible that wild orcas don’t really learn abstract reasoning either, and instead just hunting or so.)
Can be checked from table here. (I checked it a few months ago and I think back then there was another “(estimated) birthdate” column which made the checking easier (rather than calculating from “age”), but possible I misremember.)
Content warning: The “Background” section describes heavy abuse.
When asking claude for more examples, it wrote:
Of course, it’s possible there’s survivorship bias and actually a larger fraction recover. It’s also possible that cognitive deficits are rather due to malnurishment or so.