By Eliana Nunes
The tender interaction between the two orcas – also known as killer whales – took place in the dramatic Kv忙nangen fjords, about 68 miles northeast of Troms酶.
In the nearly two-minute-long video, the orcas are seen engaging in three separate 鈥渒issing鈥 episodes, lasting 10, 26 and 18 seconds each.
During these intimate moments, one orca extends its tongue while the other appears to gently mouth or nibble it.
After the final 鈥渒iss鈥, the highly intelligent mammals part ways and swim off in opposite directions.
In the paper published in the journal Oceans, researchers describe the two adult orcas as engaging in 鈥渞epeated episodes of gentle, face-to-face oral contact鈥.
The snorkellers floated quietly and horizontally in the water – careful not to disturb the orcas – and filmed the interaction on a GoPro.
Scientists call this tactile interaction 鈥渢ongue-nibbling鈥.
Study author Dr Javier Almunia told Live Science that 鈥渢ongue-nibbling is exceptionally rare鈥, explaining that, until now, this behaviour had only been seen in orcas in human care.
While tongue-nibbling has not been recorded in other species, similar mouth-to-mouth contact has been spotted in belugas, according to Dr Almunia.
He added: 鈥淭his behaviour appears to serve affiliative purposes and may play a role in reinforcing social bonds or resolving conflicts, akin to grooming or reconciliation behaviours in other highly social species.鈥
Mouth-to-mouth contact in orcas was previously recorded in 2013 at Loro Parque, a zoo on Tenerife.
During that observation, 鈥渙ne individual protruded its tongue while the other made gentle nibbling movements,鈥 the study authors, Dr Almunia and colleagues, explain.
The zoo-keepers reported that tongue-nibbling behaviour had been noted in four individual orcas at the park.
Mouth-to-mouth contact was first documented in captive orcas in a 1978 study by Paul Spong and Ingrid Visser, who suggested it plays a role in maintaining social cohesion.
It comes as two pals on a fishing trip spotted what appeared to be a pod of killer whales in the Channel.
David Hilton, 64, and Paul Bradshaw, 61, were angling off the South Coast when they saw several large creatures breaching the surface.
They appeared to be hunting dolphins in busy international shipping lanes, just five miles south of Plymouth, Devon.
Orcas are found in oceans all over the world, but they are most commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest (US and Canada), Norway, Iceland and the Antarctic water.
But sightings in the Channel are rare.
The Channel is not a typical habitat for orcas as it is shallow and heavily trafficked.
This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.