All articles tagged with #orcas
A Southern California whale-watching group spotted about 20 transient orcas patrolling the shoreline near a Channel Island, hunting sea lions in under 20 feet of water in a rare, spectacular sight, documented with video and hydrophone audio.
A rare sighting off Scotland's west coast has recorded the last known members of the UK orca group, the West Coast Community, with only two individuals, John Coe and Aquarius, seen together after years of decline. The sightings highlight the ongoing challenges faced by marine species, including chemical contamination and habitat threats, while also marking significant discoveries like the first breeding site for the critically endangered flapper skate in Orkney.
Scientists documented a rare cooperative hunting behavior between Pacific white-sided dolphins and Northern Resident orcas off British Columbia, where dolphins act as scouts to help orcas locate salmon, benefiting both species and challenging previous assumptions about their interactions.
Scientists in Mexico documented orcas hunting and eating the livers of young great white sharks, a behavior previously observed in other regions but now confirmed in Mexico, indicating a possible shift in orca predation patterns that could impact shark populations.
A pod of orcas in the Gulf of California has been observed hunting and devouring the livers of young great white sharks, indicating that orca predation on these sharks may be more common than previously thought, showcasing their advanced hunting strategies and social learning.
Researchers captured footage of orcas in the Gulf of California hunting juvenile great white sharks, flipping them upside down to extract their livers, demonstrating advanced hunting strategies and social learning among orcas, and highlighting that even top predators like sharks can be prey.
A pod of orcas off Mexico has developed a sophisticated hunting strategy to immobilize and prey on juvenile white sharks, primarily for their nutrient-rich livers, showcasing their advanced intelligence and social learning. This behavior, observed through detailed footage, highlights the orcas' ability to exploit sharks' tonic immobility, and may indicate a developing prey specialization within this pod.
Researchers observed orcas in the Gulf of California repeatedly attacking juvenile great white sharks by flipping them upside down to induce tonic immobility, then extracting their livers, revealing a new and strategic predation behavior in this region.
Videos from Mexico reveal orcas hunting and eating the livers of young great white sharks, showcasing a specialized predation behavior that has been observed in other regions like South Africa. The behavior involves flipping sharks to induce tonic immobility, allowing orcas to extract the nutritious liver, and appears to be a learned, group-specific strategy that may be influenced by changing ocean conditions.
A pod of orcas was filmed attacking and sinking a sailboat off the coast of Portugal, with multiple incidents reported in recent years involving orcas ramming and sinking boats near Spain, Portugal, and the Strait of Gibraltar, though no injuries occurred in the recent events.
Two sailboats were attacked by orcas off the Portuguese coast near Lisbon, prompting rescue operations that saved all crew members, amid a rising pattern of orca interactions with vessels in the region.
Recent footage reveals that orcas use a mock drowning training exercise to teach young pod members how to hunt large prey like blue whales, highlighting their sophisticated social and hunting strategies.
A study confirms that dolphins and orcas have reached a point in their evolution where returning to land is impossible due to their extreme specialization for marine life, making them vulnerable to environmental changes like climate change.
First footage shows orca mothers teaching their young to pretend-drown each other as part of hunting practice, which they later apply in hunting blue whales, highlighting complex social and hunting behaviors in orcas, filmed off Western Australia for a BBC series narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Great white sharks, long the ocean's top predators, are now being preyed upon by orcas in Australian waters, marking a significant shift in marine predator dynamics. Evidence shows orcas targeting sharks' livers with surgical precision, which could lead to declines in shark populations and broader ecological impacts. This behavior, previously observed in South Africa, is spreading, indicating a potential change in the marine food chain.