Let me elaborate, how likely is that there’s an animal on earth that’s smarter than us? By smarter, I understand intelligence is a nuanced topic unique to different animals, so for the sake of argument, let’s talk about, mathematics, critical thinking about where and how to apply those mathematical concepts, and creativity in any form.
What if they don’t have hands and live in the ocean?
The question was more intelligent that us in applied mathematics and critical thinking. Dolphins, whales, orcas have all been well studied. And while they are in the top 0.01% of intelligent life on earth. They are on average not smarter than humans. Though I can not speak for the below average humans.
What makes you think that they are not smarter than humans?
We haven’t been able to even communicate with Orca’s, so we can’t tell if they’d perform better on a math quiz.
We do know that they have more neurons in their cerebrum than humans, which would potentially make them smarter.
We know they have language, we know that they can pass on knowledge, we know that they communicate to each other to discuss hunting strategies, we know that they give names to each other, we know that some Orca’s have learned to communicate with other dolphin species, we know that they understand the concept of literally pointing out things, so they’re at least smarter than chimps.
The past 30 years of studies conducted on them.
All of the things you’ve highlighted, except speaking to dolphins, are things primates also do.
The very specific topic for this post, were applied mathematics and critical thinking. And no, orcas do not show any advanced application of mathematics.
If you know of a study that indicates their understanding and application of mathematics rivals ours. Please link it.