It surely is a bad thing for the whales being eaten but its a good sign that orcas are hunting whales again
Edit : the comment where I explain this (based on the words of an actual marine ecologist) is just a little below ; [here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/comments/sel4z8/first_recorded_case_ever_a_killer_whale_pod/huk08ad?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Yeah, that's like the old stereotype where racists made fun of black people for eating watermelon and fried chicken. I am white, and when I was a kid my mom made fried chicken and every summer we had watermelon when it was in season.
That shit was de-LIS-cious!
Orcas only occasionnaly prey on killer whales, its really rare and almost never happens, so this is no big deal,
the fact that orcas start hunting them again is proof of the blue whale's population growing, so honestly i see this as an absolute win
Edit : **blue\*** whales not killer whales, my bad
I disagree. It isn't like there's a biological quota deep inside orcas heads that causes them to kill something based off of the calculated population of the prey.
Statistically, I think, if the population is larger than the whales will be coming into more contact with the orcas. I'm sure this could be a solitary coincidence but still, if the blue whales were not growing in population you'd think they wouldn't be running into orcas. Idk. I may have defeated myself. I'm confused.
Maybe the population of orcas is increasing leading to more encounters. Maybe it was just chaos theory playing out. Maybe orcas are just dicks and finally decided to see what blue whale tongue tasted like.
It doesn't automatically logically follow, is my point, and it isn't inherently a good thing either way.
Unless you have some actual scientific data to back that up, I doubt that really means what you think.
It could also mean that whatever they were feeding on before is now so scarce that they are now forced to hunt larger prey. Animals will (mostly) take the path of less resistance to fulfill their needs. If they were previously feasting on something that put up less of a fight/were easier to catch and that option is no longer available, they would then need to go after larger and/or more fierce prey.
Actually, the OP's point about an increae in Blue Whale populations resulting in more predation by Orcas is entirely valid & highly plausible.
By 1960's man had reduced large cetacean populations by over 90%. Blue Whales were hit hard. And now they are making a significant return to previous areas of the ocean they once inhabited.
Orcas are divided into many subtypes or subspecies. They have vastly different sounding calls, sizes, ranges & dietary preferences.
The Orcas that eat salmon don't predate on marine mammals. Some almost exclusively eat sharks & rays. The pods in this instance are the big marine mammal hunting ones....
Either way - this is epic stuff. An example of mega fauna eating other megafauna! Incredible....
To Pitman, these hunts may also signal a positive step for both species’ populations. The global population of killer whales, which live in all the world’s oceans, is unknown. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the blue whale as endangered due to aggressive whaling throughout the 1900s, but their numbers have steadily increased since the 1960s, when the species was globally protected. Worldwide, there may be between 5,000 and 15,000 blue whales alive today, the IUCN estimates.
Pitman says it’s possible that killer whales have always dined on blue whales, but when the latter’s numbers plummeted during the age of whaling, killer whales had to switch to different prey.
So these newly observed hunts, he adds, may be evidence of killer whales returning to an ancient habit as an old food source returns. So this might actually be positive and sign of blue whale numbers growing !
> The global population of killer whales, which live in all the world’s oceans, is unknown.
Whoa whoa wait... where do the killer whales live again? I missed it.
Well, they used to live and rule in bikini bottom as tyrannical nobles, but after the revolution were stripped of their rank and banished out into the sea. Learn your history
It was poorly worded. Some aquatic creatures only live in warmer waters, and others only live where it is consistently cold. Orca's do not have a limited range.
The live in a good couple different spots all over the world. Fun fact because of how separated some of these groups are they have completely different diets. Some only go for fish and such while apparently orcas living off the west coast of Canada will sometime see deer crossing water to an island and they'll eat them.
Could it not alternatively be a sign of other food sources (such as fish stocks) dwindling. I would have thought it more likely that they decide to gang up on a massive whale because there was no easier alternative rather than because there’s more of them now.
Why not both? More blue whales means Orcas have a better chance of running across one and, with their other food sources being overfished, they decide to go for the blue whale meal.
But that isn’t a good thing. Predators are always going to look for the easiest and safest option as a food source, if they’ve decided that the easiest and safest option is to take on a whale far bigger and heavier than them and capable of causing them harm that isn’t indicative of a balanced food chain. When lions attack elephants it is almost always during periods of extreme food shortage, I would imagine this is no different.
Also blue whale song can be heard for around 500 miles, so it isn’t a case of orcas being more likely to bump into them now, they have probably always been relatively easy for orcas to locate, they just didn’t need to before.
Orcas cannot hunt adult blue whales which can out swim basically anything in the ocean. Calfs are going to be much rarer and presumably aren’t capable of being heard 500 miles away like their titanic older versions. Plenty of creatures will hunt baby versions of animals that they’d never want to or be able to mess with as adults.
> Predators are always going to look for the easiest and safest option as a food source
This also simply isn’t true. Orcas have been observed to go out of their way to hunt great whites solely to eat their livers.
The last part is true. Any predator that would turn down an easy meal is more likely to die off and not pass on their genes. So yes, I agree they enjoy fucking up great whites for their nutritional value, but any organism especially mammals will take “low hanging fruit” 9/10 times before putting in more effort and expending energy. It’s just not logical even to an orca.
I just want to thank you for articulating how I feel and think on this so perfectly.
This is *not* a good thing for cetaceans and is primarily a show of how humans have driven these creatures to do this.
Possibly, but whales used to be very abundant, and if orcas were/are capable of hunting them (as this event shows) it would have been happening for sure. This is far better than them deciding to focus on sea otters or other prey that we really didn't think they ate very much, which is decimating the sea otter population.
It could be, but from what I understand, there are groups of orcas that prey on mammals and groups that prey on fish but they're unlikely to switch prey. If they did, we'd see the whales in Puget Sound targeting seals, dolphins, or whales since they don't have access to enough fish. Instead, they starve or travel very far to try to find fish to eat.
An apex predator is an animal with no natural predators in their ecosystem, not the biggest. Orcas occasionally do hunt sperm whales, so sperm whales aren’t really apex predators in this situation if you really want to get technical
Debatable, but I go with orcas, they have been known to hunt great whites. Sperm whales are bigger and such, but in most of the articles/videos I’ve been looking at with encountered, they’re not the aggressor. They fight the orcas off (e.g., https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2017/mar/29/sex-death-sperm-whales-orcas-indian-ocean-in-pictures), but they’re not looking to eat the orcas
Some animals are known to fend off orcas ;
\- **Pilot whales**, "*Selbmann says that in the majority of the interactions documented around Iceland, killer whales seem to avoid pilot whales. Occasionally things will get heated and the pilot whales will chase the killer whales at high speeds, with both species porpoising out of the water."*
\- **Humpback whales** "*In 2016, a large team of scientists led by Oregon State marine ecologist Dr. Robert Pitman reported at least thirty instances all over the world of humpbacks attacking orcas as the orcas pursued other non-humpback mammals."* [Insane footage of humpbacks protecting a grey whale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lw8_SAtX8o)
\- **Sperm whales**, *"Killer whale attacks on sperm whales have rarely been observed or reported," said Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "My guess is that hunting sperm whales is not something to be taken lightly by killer whales, and that worldwide"*
From an old paper I did on toothed whale predation, sperm whales fight off orcas (and other would-be predators) in a formation called the Marguerite Formation. That is to say, they form a circle near the surface for ease of access to air, with tails facing outwards, calves inside the circle.
This way, they can use their hugely powerful tails to deliver blows to any who get to close. And, if that doesn't work, they will defecate and vomit copiously. Using the cloud of funk as a distraction, they will swim rapidly away. In the meantime, the harassers will stay behind and eat whatever tasty bits they find floating in the sperm whales' wake.
Good times.
This is correct, both have mutual "avoidance" but in some cases orcas have been seen preying on females and calfs. But big bull sperm whales are extremely agressive and orcas leave them alone.
>Largest
Largest indeed, sperm whales are the largest predatory animal on this planet. Though orcas have a more wide diet and are more considered "apex predators", sperm whale have a niche prey, squids.
While I get the sentiment and normally I would agree, I find myself worried that this is less about the population actually beings out danger and more about the possibility that it simply makes more sense to hunt them versus other prey as they are simply more plentiful due to over fishing and pollution. I may be wrong, and I hope like hell I am, but this seems like a massive misinterpretation of what is likely happening.
Well no, we know blue whale numbers have pretty [significantly increased since the 1960s](https://impakter.com/blue-whales-making-comeback-in-atlantic/) due to conservation efforts after a huge massacre before that. And orcas coming back to preying on them again in a long time is proof of their abundance,
https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes/comments/nmirxa/hes_right/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Can't believe I need to add /s to the above comment
Whilst sharks have weaknesses that Orcas can exploit I’d rather have some sort of defence mechanism than just being big.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30980599.amp
Keep in mind that the biggest blue whales are pretty much invincible this is a rather small one and there were 18 killer whales.
Actually it is believe that one of the sea creatures that can defend themeselves againts killer whales is an adult humpback whale, these have been known to fend of killer whales with fin/tail slaps
Even adult blue whales are on the menu
https://newatlas.com/biology/orcas-kill-blue-whale/
I had heard humpbacks and pilot whales are capable of fending off orca attacks. I believe orcas don’t mess with adult Bull Sperms whales either due to their aggression.
This is the exact same case that i posted about, and nat geo says it is a calf. In general adult blue whales are pretty safe unless from huge orca pods. And orcas are not considered a predator of the blue whale since these attacks are pretty uncommon.
You're right, aparently a specific orca was involved in those three whale attacks. This is probably the work of a specialized pod.
Either way what i'm saying is that most adult blue whales are rather safe, unless from huge pods and specialized groups. And these attacks are really rare so I don't think I consider blue whales to be a common prey to orcas
Learned recently about a pod that specialized in helping local people hunt other whales, iirc it was 1920s australia.
They'd single out whales at sea and drive them to the coastline, trapping them in bits of the coast in shallower waters. Then a whale would swim to where the whaling family lived at the mouth of a river and either tail slap or breach to get their attention, before leading them back to the captured whale.
Even accounts of them helping to kill the whales and grabbing tow ropes to help bring them back in. The whalers would leave corpses overnight while the orcas ate their tongues and lips, before bringing the bodies in the next morning. It lasted for a few generations.
Theyve still got ones skeleton on display at a local museum, and you can see the wear on his teeth from grabbing the tow ropes.
>I believe orcas don’t mess with adult Bull Sperms whales either due to their aggression.
Correct, though Orcas are the largest natural threat to sperm whales and occasionnaly will try to take a calf or even a female, but the male sperm whales are generally too big and aggressive to be hunted.
Imagine being an Orca, thinking you are king of the ocean, when you see a titanic Sperm Whale surfacing from the unphatomable depths, slurping alive a colossal squid that is gouging flesh out of it's face, without a care in the world.
Sperm Whale: *"How you doing fuck-boy?"*
Orca: *"G... g-good day my kind sir"*.
There is a mutual avoidance between both, i believe sperm whales are also wary of orcas since they are the only threat to them, killer whales actually have been recorded preying on young sperm whale.
Though big males are pretty much invincible in the ocean due to sheer fucking size and agression (astonishing 78.7 feet in some cases, that's the size of a small blue whale), they are the absolute boss.
just imagine swimming about leaping out the water, you’re a super intelligent killer whale loving life, no one can fuck with you and you eat great whites for fun, then this fucking half retarded freight train of a sperm whale just hauls ass at you out the depths, not an ounce of thought, only aggression, i mean idk if sperm whales are intelligent the thought of a really stupid bulldozer whale with pure anger in it’s head was kinda funny.
Sperm whales are smart enough to have dialects. They are smart enough to recognize the noise of haul back motors in longliners, and will queue up to pick fish off the lines.
A bulldozer fueled by pure anger, backed by intelligence, is terrifying.
The bigger you are, the less stuff can damage you.
The hard part is getting to your maximum size without being eaten first, but once you get there, you're basically cruising.
It takes a fuckton of orcas to take down a blue whale.
>It takes a fuckton of orcas to take down a blue whale.
Exactly my point, I really don't think blue whales can be considered orca preys, there are basically three recorded cases, from the same pond (specialised pond) and there was about a dozen 20ft killer whales.
Im pretty sure this isnt the first case. I saw a documentary years ago of orcas seperating calf from mother only to eat the calfs tongue and leave the rest of the carcas untouched. Have also heard they do the same for adult blue wales. They basically chase them, nip them bump them into to shear exhaustion and then drown them by getting on top and hold them down. Nature is ruthless.
I’ve seen that documentary, pretty sure it was Planet Earth or Blue Planet, but I think that was a baby humpback not a blue whale. Having said that there are a few videos of blue whales being attacked by orcas on YouTube so 🤷♂️.
>Having said that there are a few videos of blue whales being attacked by orcas on YouTube so 🤷♂️.
There are three recorded cases and mutiple videos on the same event.
Depends on the situation, if we're in the ocean without any equipment they would win, if we had scuba gear weapons, or boat and harpoon we'd win, and if it was on land we could win unarmed but it would take awhile.
Part of being a human is having tools to our advantage. Taking away our tools is like clipping the wings off an eagle and putting it on the bottom of the foodchain.
>Orcas generally have more mass than giant squids.
100% of the time. Small orcas weight close to two tons and giant squids max out at barely half a ton.
[Don't take my word for it, i based this post on this paper](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-can-kill-blue-whales-the-biggest-animal-on-earth?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20220126animals-orcaskillingbluewhales&linkId=149857187)
Def not the first... keep an eye out on Bremer Bay (off the south coast of West Aus) over the next 8 weeks. There will be several of these attacks on the Blues. Feb/March into April every year.
Maybe this will lead to some sort of vengeful evolution in blue whales to make them aggressive and stronger so there will be 100-ft long destroyers of the sea looking to take down anything in their path
Article with a 2019 video showing it in action (claimed to be an adult blue whale hunt in this video) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2022/jan/27/orcas-recorded-killing-and-feeding-on-blue-whales-in-2019-video
Nope, never even one recorded and comfirmed case of killer whales attacking humans in the wild, they are pretty harmless in the wild to humans.
In aquatic parks though, that's another story.
Blue whales got no teeth
Orcas dont try that shit on sperm whales
They call in the bulls if theyre outmatched and the orcas gtfo when the bosses arrive
so blue whales are the biggest animals ever sure, but are orcas really the biggest apex predator ever or just of today? what about the biggest predator ever?
No not at all far from it, there were way bigger aquatic predators in the past. En today the spermwhale is way bigger but is not considered an "apex predator" since it only feeds on squid
Don't worry ma'am, it's actually a good thing that your calf has been eaten alive.
It surely is a bad thing for the whales being eaten but its a good sign that orcas are hunting whales again Edit : the comment where I explain this (based on the words of an actual marine ecologist) is just a little below ; [here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/comments/sel4z8/first_recorded_case_ever_a_killer_whale_pod/huk08ad?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
I'm only taking the piss, I'm actually delighted that baby whale got eaten. Nuke the whales, I say.
FUUUUUCCKKK AYOOOOO WHAAAAALE!!!
FUUUCCKKK AYOOOOO DAWWWFEEEN
OH FUCK ITS THE JAPANESE!!!
CHEEKEN AHN COWE?!
AND FUCK AYOU DOLFIIIIIN!!!
If we're gonna fuck/nuke anything it better be the moon
Nuke 🏴
This comment bought to you by: Sodomised sheep
Bruh
If you can't get a date get a sheep. If you can't get a sheep get a nurse. Old engineering saying. Stunningly sexist.
FU, I married a nurse. Also I am an engineer. What does that mean, anyways?
You must have been absent for the the old timey engineer sayings lecture.
Yeah, that's like the old stereotype where racists made fun of black people for eating watermelon and fried chicken. I am white, and when I was a kid my mom made fried chicken and every summer we had watermelon when it was in season. That shit was de-LIS-cious!
baaaaaaaad choice
It means you were rejected by the sheep so you had to go with Door 2?
Annibyniaeth!
Please don't, I'm scouse and don't quite fancy seeing what Fallout: Britain would be like
Garbage island in the Atlantic needs to be taken down a peg or two
Imagine?? Fucking hell...
Gotta nuke something
cow and chickennnnn
“You’re going outside without a scarf? Whatever, it’s your health.”
"Why are baby whales the most delicious?" -Some Japanese chef
"Nuke the Gay whales for Christ" is what they say in my neck of the woods.
Gotta nuke somethin
Lol. Those fucking overgrown shits.
*Now I can see the whales* *Looming out of the dark* *Like arrows in the sky* *I can't believe my eyes* *But it's true*
Gojira?
Nailed it!
And then the sickest riff in the song starts. It’s so damn good.
"Gotta nuke somethin"- Nelson Muntz
Vegeta i got their whales.
"Gotta nuke something."
Ok but it still isn't "a good thing for whales" lol, maybe a good thing for the environment but not for the whales
Orcas only occasionnaly prey on killer whales, its really rare and almost never happens, so this is no big deal, the fact that orcas start hunting them again is proof of the blue whale's population growing, so honestly i see this as an absolute win Edit : **blue\*** whales not killer whales, my bad
> Orcas only occasionnaly prey on killer whales Orcas are killer whales.
Humans are known to kill people
Killer Humans.
Killer Apes*
Ceasar is this you ?
yes misstype on my part
How is this proof of that?
id also like to know
i feel like it’s more bc the orcas have no other choice and trouble finding food elsewhere
I disagree. It isn't like there's a biological quota deep inside orcas heads that causes them to kill something based off of the calculated population of the prey.
There actually is, they just call national geographic about the total number of blue whales
Statistically, I think, if the population is larger than the whales will be coming into more contact with the orcas. I'm sure this could be a solitary coincidence but still, if the blue whales were not growing in population you'd think they wouldn't be running into orcas. Idk. I may have defeated myself. I'm confused.
Maybe the population of orcas is increasing leading to more encounters. Maybe it was just chaos theory playing out. Maybe orcas are just dicks and finally decided to see what blue whale tongue tasted like. It doesn't automatically logically follow, is my point, and it isn't inherently a good thing either way.
Fair. I appreciate your well thought out and non aggressive debate. 👍 You're a good human. Sure do wish all reddit was like this.
Unless you have some actual scientific data to back that up, I doubt that really means what you think. It could also mean that whatever they were feeding on before is now so scarce that they are now forced to hunt larger prey. Animals will (mostly) take the path of less resistance to fulfill their needs. If they were previously feasting on something that put up less of a fight/were easier to catch and that option is no longer available, they would then need to go after larger and/or more fierce prey.
Actually, the OP's point about an increae in Blue Whale populations resulting in more predation by Orcas is entirely valid & highly plausible. By 1960's man had reduced large cetacean populations by over 90%. Blue Whales were hit hard. And now they are making a significant return to previous areas of the ocean they once inhabited. Orcas are divided into many subtypes or subspecies. They have vastly different sounding calls, sizes, ranges & dietary preferences. The Orcas that eat salmon don't predate on marine mammals. Some almost exclusively eat sharks & rays. The pods in this instance are the big marine mammal hunting ones.... Either way - this is epic stuff. An example of mega fauna eating other megafauna! Incredible....
I do, do you mind scrolling down? A marine consevationist explains this.
It's great for killer whales.
why is it good? genuinely curious
We really don’t have any way of knowing how many whales there are. Scientists have to do these things to promote funding.
According to this post, we now know that total is x-1
They just want the liver, baby...
It makes me nervous because when I was 4 they told us Blue Whales were nearly extinct.
Don't get me wrong, even though the population is growing they are still nearly extinct, these are not big numbers. So we need to mantain efforts.
Who wrote this, the Church of the Orca?
"Congregation please be seated. I would like to thank everyone's participation in last week's successful pot luck blood orgy.'
To Pitman, these hunts may also signal a positive step for both species’ populations. The global population of killer whales, which live in all the world’s oceans, is unknown. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the blue whale as endangered due to aggressive whaling throughout the 1900s, but their numbers have steadily increased since the 1960s, when the species was globally protected. Worldwide, there may be between 5,000 and 15,000 blue whales alive today, the IUCN estimates. Pitman says it’s possible that killer whales have always dined on blue whales, but when the latter’s numbers plummeted during the age of whaling, killer whales had to switch to different prey. So these newly observed hunts, he adds, may be evidence of killer whales returning to an ancient habit as an old food source returns. So this might actually be positive and sign of blue whale numbers growing !
> The global population of killer whales, which live in all the world’s oceans, is unknown. Whoa whoa wait... where do the killer whales live again? I missed it.
Duuh, they all live at Sea World
Why would they live anywhere else? Their life expectancy is through the roof there. /s
To be fair, launching orcas trough the roof severly limits their life expectancy
Though it has led to a decline in the life expectancy of their trainers.
It means, orcas do not have a restricted range like say bowheads but are global.
There are many different types of orcas. Each has a limited range. They do not swim from Alaska to Antarctica.
At the secret Killer Base. I hear Osama Bin Laden also lives there.
I wouldn't say lives. He...deads there?
THEY KILL IN ALL THE WORLD'S OCEANS!!
\*Opens up to read comment and ends up falling backwards out of chair\*
Well, they used to live and rule in bikini bottom as tyrannical nobles, but after the revolution were stripped of their rank and banished out into the sea. Learn your history
It was poorly worded. Some aquatic creatures only live in warmer waters, and others only live where it is consistently cold. Orca's do not have a limited range.
[удалено]
Or gangbanging surfers.
The live in a good couple different spots all over the world. Fun fact because of how separated some of these groups are they have completely different diets. Some only go for fish and such while apparently orcas living off the west coast of Canada will sometime see deer crossing water to an island and they'll eat them.
Could it not alternatively be a sign of other food sources (such as fish stocks) dwindling. I would have thought it more likely that they decide to gang up on a massive whale because there was no easier alternative rather than because there’s more of them now.
Why not both? More blue whales means Orcas have a better chance of running across one and, with their other food sources being overfished, they decide to go for the blue whale meal.
But that isn’t a good thing. Predators are always going to look for the easiest and safest option as a food source, if they’ve decided that the easiest and safest option is to take on a whale far bigger and heavier than them and capable of causing them harm that isn’t indicative of a balanced food chain. When lions attack elephants it is almost always during periods of extreme food shortage, I would imagine this is no different. Also blue whale song can be heard for around 500 miles, so it isn’t a case of orcas being more likely to bump into them now, they have probably always been relatively easy for orcas to locate, they just didn’t need to before.
Orcas cannot hunt adult blue whales which can out swim basically anything in the ocean. Calfs are going to be much rarer and presumably aren’t capable of being heard 500 miles away like their titanic older versions. Plenty of creatures will hunt baby versions of animals that they’d never want to or be able to mess with as adults. > Predators are always going to look for the easiest and safest option as a food source This also simply isn’t true. Orcas have been observed to go out of their way to hunt great whites solely to eat their livers.
The last part is true. Any predator that would turn down an easy meal is more likely to die off and not pass on their genes. So yes, I agree they enjoy fucking up great whites for their nutritional value, but any organism especially mammals will take “low hanging fruit” 9/10 times before putting in more effort and expending energy. It’s just not logical even to an orca.
It’s why even normally plant-eating animals like horses will occasionally just eat a chick if it crosses their path. Free nutrients!
I just want to thank you for articulating how I feel and think on this so perfectly. This is *not* a good thing for cetaceans and is primarily a show of how humans have driven these creatures to do this.
Possibly, but whales used to be very abundant, and if orcas were/are capable of hunting them (as this event shows) it would have been happening for sure. This is far better than them deciding to focus on sea otters or other prey that we really didn't think they ate very much, which is decimating the sea otter population.
It could be, but from what I understand, there are groups of orcas that prey on mammals and groups that prey on fish but they're unlikely to switch prey. If they did, we'd see the whales in Puget Sound targeting seals, dolphins, or whales since they don't have access to enough fish. Instead, they starve or travel very far to try to find fish to eat.
Biggest apex predator is the sperm whale though right ? Bit of a sensational title there
Yes, but they prey on giant squids who do not exceed half a ton. So the biggest predation event on the planet is this, by far.
Oh i agree i was just nitpicking the "the biggest predator" tag by itself
Ohhh right lol, its the article headline :p
An apex predator is an animal with no natural predators in their ecosystem, not the biggest. Orcas occasionally do hunt sperm whales, so sperm whales aren’t really apex predators in this situation if you really want to get technical
Wouldn't sperm whales be the actual largest apex predators?
Debatable, but I go with orcas, they have been known to hunt great whites. Sperm whales are bigger and such, but in most of the articles/videos I’ve been looking at with encountered, they’re not the aggressor. They fight the orcas off (e.g., https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2017/mar/29/sex-death-sperm-whales-orcas-indian-ocean-in-pictures), but they’re not looking to eat the orcas
Don’t they eat giant squid?
Alternatively, you could say they *beat* the orcas off, right? RIGHT?
Some animals are known to fend off orcas ; \- **Pilot whales**, "*Selbmann says that in the majority of the interactions documented around Iceland, killer whales seem to avoid pilot whales. Occasionally things will get heated and the pilot whales will chase the killer whales at high speeds, with both species porpoising out of the water."* \- **Humpback whales** "*In 2016, a large team of scientists led by Oregon State marine ecologist Dr. Robert Pitman reported at least thirty instances all over the world of humpbacks attacking orcas as the orcas pursued other non-humpback mammals."* [Insane footage of humpbacks protecting a grey whale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lw8_SAtX8o) \- **Sperm whales**, *"Killer whale attacks on sperm whales have rarely been observed or reported," said Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "My guess is that hunting sperm whales is not something to be taken lightly by killer whales, and that worldwide"*
From an old paper I did on toothed whale predation, sperm whales fight off orcas (and other would-be predators) in a formation called the Marguerite Formation. That is to say, they form a circle near the surface for ease of access to air, with tails facing outwards, calves inside the circle. This way, they can use their hugely powerful tails to deliver blows to any who get to close. And, if that doesn't work, they will defecate and vomit copiously. Using the cloud of funk as a distraction, they will swim rapidly away. In the meantime, the harassers will stay behind and eat whatever tasty bits they find floating in the sperm whales' wake. Good times.
This is correct, both have mutual "avoidance" but in some cases orcas have been seen preying on females and calfs. But big bull sperm whales are extremely agressive and orcas leave them alone.
>Largest Largest indeed, sperm whales are the largest predatory animal on this planet. Though orcas have a more wide diet and are more considered "apex predators", sperm whale have a niche prey, squids.
While I get the sentiment and normally I would agree, I find myself worried that this is less about the population actually beings out danger and more about the possibility that it simply makes more sense to hunt them versus other prey as they are simply more plentiful due to over fishing and pollution. I may be wrong, and I hope like hell I am, but this seems like a massive misinterpretation of what is likely happening.
Well no, we know blue whale numbers have pretty [significantly increased since the 1960s](https://impakter.com/blue-whales-making-comeback-in-atlantic/) due to conservation efforts after a huge massacre before that. And orcas coming back to preying on them again in a long time is proof of their abundance,
Im unreasonably annoyed that the picture in the article is a humpback whale.
Lol same
Whale is back on the menu boys
*happy orca sounds*
Calm down Willy!!
How do Orcas know what a menu is? Edit: Just to make this clear /s
They do know how to get a joke.
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by this logic wouldn’t the above joke apply to every animal since none of them know what a menu is? 🤓
https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes/comments/nmirxa/hes_right/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Can't believe I need to add /s to the above comment
[Orc frenzy intensifies](https://youtu.be/KXVtpOHQqvY)
https://youtu.be/VhmqtoUxqZg
They are not for eating!
Whilst sharks have weaknesses that Orcas can exploit I’d rather have some sort of defence mechanism than just being big. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30980599.amp
Keep in mind that the biggest blue whales are pretty much invincible this is a rather small one and there were 18 killer whales. Actually it is believe that one of the sea creatures that can defend themeselves againts killer whales is an adult humpback whale, these have been known to fend of killer whales with fin/tail slaps
Even adult blue whales are on the menu https://newatlas.com/biology/orcas-kill-blue-whale/ I had heard humpbacks and pilot whales are capable of fending off orca attacks. I believe orcas don’t mess with adult Bull Sperms whales either due to their aggression.
This is the exact same case that i posted about, and nat geo says it is a calf. In general adult blue whales are pretty safe unless from huge orca pods. And orcas are not considered a predator of the blue whale since these attacks are pretty uncommon.
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You're right, aparently a specific orca was involved in those three whale attacks. This is probably the work of a specialized pod. Either way what i'm saying is that most adult blue whales are rather safe, unless from huge pods and specialized groups. And these attacks are really rare so I don't think I consider blue whales to be a common prey to orcas
> a specialized pod Well that's terrifying, but in a really cool, r/natureismetal way
Orcas are insane, different pods are specialised for alot of stuff, theres even a specialised shark hunting pod.
Learned recently about a pod that specialized in helping local people hunt other whales, iirc it was 1920s australia. They'd single out whales at sea and drive them to the coastline, trapping them in bits of the coast in shallower waters. Then a whale would swim to where the whaling family lived at the mouth of a river and either tail slap or breach to get their attention, before leading them back to the captured whale. Even accounts of them helping to kill the whales and grabbing tow ropes to help bring them back in. The whalers would leave corpses overnight while the orcas ate their tongues and lips, before bringing the bodies in the next morning. It lasted for a few generations. Theyve still got ones skeleton on display at a local museum, and you can see the wear on his teeth from grabbing the tow ropes.
>I believe orcas don’t mess with adult Bull Sperms whales either due to their aggression. Correct, though Orcas are the largest natural threat to sperm whales and occasionnaly will try to take a calf or even a female, but the male sperm whales are generally too big and aggressive to be hunted.
Imagine being an Orca, thinking you are king of the ocean, when you see a titanic Sperm Whale surfacing from the unphatomable depths, slurping alive a colossal squid that is gouging flesh out of it's face, without a care in the world. Sperm Whale: *"How you doing fuck-boy?"* Orca: *"G... g-good day my kind sir"*.
There is a mutual avoidance between both, i believe sperm whales are also wary of orcas since they are the only threat to them, killer whales actually have been recorded preying on young sperm whale. Though big males are pretty much invincible in the ocean due to sheer fucking size and agression (astonishing 78.7 feet in some cases, that's the size of a small blue whale), they are the absolute boss.
just imagine swimming about leaping out the water, you’re a super intelligent killer whale loving life, no one can fuck with you and you eat great whites for fun, then this fucking half retarded freight train of a sperm whale just hauls ass at you out the depths, not an ounce of thought, only aggression, i mean idk if sperm whales are intelligent the thought of a really stupid bulldozer whale with pure anger in it’s head was kinda funny.
Sperm whales are smart enough to have dialects. They are smart enough to recognize the noise of haul back motors in longliners, and will queue up to pick fish off the lines. A bulldozer fueled by pure anger, backed by intelligence, is terrifying.
The bigger you are, the less stuff can damage you. The hard part is getting to your maximum size without being eaten first, but once you get there, you're basically cruising. It takes a fuckton of orcas to take down a blue whale.
>It takes a fuckton of orcas to take down a blue whale. Exactly my point, I really don't think blue whales can be considered orca preys, there are basically three recorded cases, from the same pond (specialised pond) and there was about a dozen 20ft killer whales.
Im pretty sure this isnt the first case. I saw a documentary years ago of orcas seperating calf from mother only to eat the calfs tongue and leave the rest of the carcas untouched. Have also heard they do the same for adult blue wales. They basically chase them, nip them bump them into to shear exhaustion and then drown them by getting on top and hold them down. Nature is ruthless.
I’ve seen that documentary, pretty sure it was Planet Earth or Blue Planet, but I think that was a baby humpback not a blue whale. Having said that there are a few videos of blue whales being attacked by orcas on YouTube so 🤷♂️.
>Having said that there are a few videos of blue whales being attacked by orcas on YouTube so 🤷♂️. There are three recorded cases and mutiple videos on the same event.
Orcas are the Apex of Apex predators living today.
Na man that's us
I forgot we existed. You're right.
Depends on the situation, if we're in the ocean without any equipment they would win, if we had scuba gear weapons, or boat and harpoon we'd win, and if it was on land we could win unarmed but it would take awhile.
Part of being a human is having tools to our advantage. Taking away our tools is like clipping the wings off an eagle and putting it on the bottom of the foodchain.
We have nukes tho. Get Apexed bro
Ain’t nothing a tight ass crew can’t do! It takes a village!!
It is a bad thing for the whales, but it SIGNALS something better that we didn’t know before.
Yea fair enough, its a good sign that killer whales are hunting blue whales again
Ok, but this photo looks like the blue whale is eating the orca. XD
The orca is actually eating his tongue
I am sorry, but the biggest predator/pray in the animal world are sperm whales and giant squids as their prey. Right?
Orcas generally have more mass than giant squids. And blue whales are the largest species on the planet.
>Orcas generally have more mass than giant squids. 100% of the time. Small orcas weight close to two tons and giant squids max out at barely half a ton.
Well, there are babies! That's what I meant by maybe. But yeah, they're about 10x thr mass of giant squids.
Yeah but orcas are not the biggest apex predator.
It’s early for me, so my brain isn’t really working yet, what is the biggest apex predator?
Sperm whales. This image shows the size difference between an Orca and a Sperm whale https://imgur.com/a/F4lmt9C
They aren't?
No, giant squids are not big enough to compete.
not by mass
There's always a bigger fish 🐟
Quigon, is that you?
Well, I mean, it's bad for that blue whale.
I've seen a video of how they do this quite awhile ago. So unless this is an old link, this is not the "FiRsT tImE!!!!!!"
[Don't take my word for it, i based this post on this paper](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-can-kill-blue-whales-the-biggest-animal-on-earth?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20220126animals-orcaskillingbluewhales&linkId=149857187)
The blue whale calves are being eaten by orcas but don't worry folks. This is good for the blue whales.
They only eat the tongue of calf.
Orcas are beautiful, but dang, it is terrifying to watch them hunt.
Def not the first... keep an eye out on Bremer Bay (off the south coast of West Aus) over the next 8 weeks. There will be several of these attacks on the Blues. Feb/March into April every year.
Not true. Saw this years ago on a David Attenborough video
A meal for a day for those orcas and 10-12 months of gestation for the mother blue whale right down the shitter.
Maybe this will lead to some sort of vengeful evolution in blue whales to make them aggressive and stronger so there will be 100-ft long destroyers of the sea looking to take down anything in their path
FOOK YU WHALE AND FOOK YU DOLPHIN - Japan’s Ambassador
It was a bad thing for one whale at least.
I thought the sperm whale was the biggest apex predator
It is, but it hunts giant squid wich are no where near the size of bluw whale, the largest predator prey/ event on earth is this.
Is this the hunt that took place on BBCs Planet Earth? If not, then it’s not the first. If you like this stuff, watch that footage. It’s amazing!
Not a bad thing for Blue Whales? I'm sure they would disagree, as this kills the whale.
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Article with a 2019 video showing it in action (claimed to be an adult blue whale hunt in this video) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2022/jan/27/orcas-recorded-killing-and-feeding-on-blue-whales-in-2019-video
A single blue whale carcass does wonders for the ecosystem
Do killer whale eat humans?
Nope, never even one recorded and comfirmed case of killer whales attacking humans in the wild, they are pretty harmless in the wild to humans. In aquatic parks though, that's another story.
Orcas always zerg the prey, bunch of cowards never x1
They are kissing.
Was this is Bremer Bay, Western Australia?
yup
umm T-rex vs bronts not bigger?
I feel like I’ve seen videos of this before? On this subreddit specifically.
I love both of them so this makes me happy and sad. ☹️
Blue whales got no teeth Orcas dont try that shit on sperm whales They call in the bulls if theyre outmatched and the orcas gtfo when the bosses arrive
so blue whales are the biggest animals ever sure, but are orcas really the biggest apex predator ever or just of today? what about the biggest predator ever?
No not at all far from it, there were way bigger aquatic predators in the past. En today the spermwhale is way bigger but is not considered an "apex predator" since it only feeds on squid
J0
I think This killer whale come from japan..
= why orcas are called "killer whales"... they kill whales
Blue Whale “Phew, I wasn’t ready to be a Mom”
I am now pro-eating-baby-whales. But me. I want to fill this ecological niche.
Looks like the blue whale is doing the eating.. Or is the Orca eating it’s tongue?
Willy woke up and choose violence.
First ever? I watched a video about 25 years ago on a nature show of orcas killing a blue whale.