Excellent article about the whales. One can only wonder exactly what their purpose is in rescuing other animals from the orcas.
The article ascribes to them either altruism of revenge - two human traits. This is the point where the scientists fall short, in my opinion. Whenever an action is observed which can be described in human terms, then the animals are considered intelligent. I think it's very likely that many animals make intelligent decisions which go unnoticed by observers because they are not understood as being intelligent by humans; the actions are too alien for us to recognize them for what they are.
But it is cool watching animals do things which we recognize as intelligent. Consider the capuchin monkeys
using rock hammers to open nuts. Or a mother rat
rescuing her baby from a snake. Fascinating occurrences, of course, but again, I don't believe human-like actions define all of the intelligence animals possess.
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