Chilling Footage Shows a Pod of Orcas Ambushing a Blue Whale Using a Never-Before-Seen Tactic

Nicknamed “killer whales,” orcas seem to carry malice in their blood by default. Since the 1980s, orcas have left scientists’ brains disoriented with their clever hunting strategies and stranding techniques. Decades of research and observation have revealed how these wicked mammals spend years and years undergoing rigorous training, usually led by their matriarchal grandmother. In a recent cameo, an orca mom was captured off the coast of Bremer Bay in Western Australia. The mom was teaching her calves how to kill a blue whale by drowning it. The documentary was part of a series called Parenthood hosted by the BBC.

Unlike other mammals, which have a selective platter, orcas will snag anything from a school of small fish to the great white sharks. What’s more vicious about them is that they don’t just kill their prey to eat; sometimes, they kill just to have a fun-filled play time with their buddies. As TED-Ed describes, these orcas spend almost their entire lives living with their matriarchal grandmother, with social meetings with neighbourhood families from time to time. During this period, their grandmom teaches them strategies and techniques that would put even the greatest human warriors to shame.

When the seas are calm and waves are towering, the orcas will plunge into the depths, decide upon a tactic, and then use it to pounce upon their prey with an almost unforgiving attitude. In a BBC Earth documentary, orcas have been spotted kidnapping a humpback whale calf from its parents by using an extremely cunning tactic that made the calf’s parents believe that the calf was safe. They cleverly picked up the calf, tossed it on their backs, and trailed through the waters, slapping their fins with triumph.

Another video shared by Real Science showed a pod of orcas taking advantage of high tides to grab a sea lion from the shore, straight into the mouth. When scientists first observed these tactics, they could not believe what they were seeing. Where did these ocean-dwelling mammals learned such fine stabbing, malevolent techniques for hunting? From beaching to kidnapping to mapping the deep ocean as a soundscape, the armoury of their hunting techniques is endless. In this particular BBC video, the technique observed was the orcas practicing to drown their prey.

The video was filmed off the coast of Bremer Bay in Western Australia, which is home to an orca population of about 200 individuals, the largest known congregation of orcas in the Southern Hemisphere. While researchers already know that orcas can kill whales by drowning them, this hunting practice has never been filmed before, as a spokesperson for the BBC, who filmed the footage, shared with The Times. The technique, as seen in the footage, involves pushing the victim into the water and pressing it into the blowhole to choke its breathing. They seem to be practicing how to drown their prey, and they need to be on “top of their game.” 

Working as a team, the killer whales hunted a blue whale and pounced upon it, ambushing it and pounding upon its giant body, until the waters surrounding them were bleeding red. The clip, according to the YouTube description, was narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the famous British biologist and broadcaster. "These orcas need to be on top of their game," Attenborough said in the footage, "They hunt the largest animals that have ever lived: blue whales." This documentary was part of the BBC’s Parenthood series, which reveals extraordinary ways animal parents help their young survive.

Watch the video here.

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