Are Orcas the apex predators of the ocean? 'Within seconds we realized, oh my God, a pack of killer whales is attacking a blue whale,' researcher John Totterdell from the Cetacean Research Centre in Australia, told NPR.
While killer whales are known to attack blue whales, John Totterdell and his colleagues are the first to ever document a successful takedown. And they've done it more than once, publishing their findings in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
"There was a good 10, 12 that were active in keeping this animal harassed. Wearing it down. Just tiring it out," Tottedell, whose team recorded the violent hunt recalled. Their work, he says, definitely shows that killer whales, which actually belong to the dolphin family, are the top predator in the ocean.They are so fierce that even great white sharks seem to be scared of them, a. According to researchers who had tagged white sharks with a tracking device off the coast of California, just the presence of a pod of killer whales, also called orcas, drove away the sharks for months.
The gruesome video footage of the encounter between the blue whale and the gang of killer killer whales rocked John Calambokidis, a blue whale biologist at Cascadia Research.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Border Agency Chief Chris Magnus Faces Challenges From Within and OutsideAs a Biden appointee and an outsider who had a chilly relationship with Border Patrol leaders in Tucson, Magnus might struggle winning over agents.
Read more »
Man arrested three times within 16 hours, Glendale police sayA man was arrested three times within 16 hours in Glendale and police are blaming LA County’s emergency “zero-dollar” bail order for his repeated release.
Read more »
US, Iran can reach nuclear deal 'within days' if Tehran 'shows seriousness'State Department reports 'substantial progress' in talks at Vienna but also warns 'anything much beyond that would put the possibility of return to the [2015] deal at grave risk.'
Read more »
Second SAFD firefighter dies within days of lieutenant’s deathFire engineer Lyle Crawford died Feb. 16 after a prolonged battle with complications from...
Read more »
Smith: Challenge within a challenge for Cougars, Kelvin SampsonKelvin Sampson, no stranger to adversity, faces a challenge in getting his UH team to...
Read more »
Border agency chief faces challenges from within and outsideChris Magnus, commissioner of the Border Patrol’s parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, also faces persistent allegations that his agency is mistreating migrants, failing to recruit more women and is at the mercy of a broken asylum system.
Read more »