Photo: Allan Cronin//Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching
Sixty orcas were filmed killing a 59-foot pygmy blue whale in Bremer Canyon off the coast of Western Australia on April 7.
The brutal footage shows the pod of killer whales living up to their name, using advanced hunting tactics to circle the pygmy blue whale, which is an endangered species. A tour company called Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching captured the wild spectacle as it unfolded.
“We witnessed an incredible and rare event yesterday as multiple pods of orcas successfully hunted a blue whale in Bremer Canyon,” Naturaliste Charters said in a Facebook post. “The intense ordeal lasted less than 40 minutes from when we first saw the blue at the surface to when the battle was over.”
Orcas have only been observed hunting a blue whale species a handful of times, so the footage is incredibly rare. A warning here, the footage is fairly graphic.
“This is only the fourth recorded instance of orcas hunting a blue whale here,” the tour company continued. “[It is] an extraordinary reminder of their role as apex predators in the ocean.”
While orcas’ prey depends on where they live, they generally hunt fish, squid, seals, sea lions, and porpoises. Occasionally they’ll eat sharks and rays (they’ve been known to eat great white livers), but as apex predators they aren’t all that picky.
According to Naturaliste Charters, “As the blue whale’s fate was sealed, orcas celebrated with breaches and tail slaps.”
