By Leo Black
Incredible rare footage shows a pod of orcas and sperm whales in a fraught battle.
The large pod of orcas can be seen laying siege to a maternal pod of sperm whales, possibly to steal prey.
A whale-watching vessel filmed the extremely rare event on March 24 in the Bremer Canyon, 70km off the coast from Bremer Bay, Western Australia, Australia.
Naturaliste Charters, a whale-watching company, had been tracking the orcas as they searched for food.
But the giant predators suddenly attacked a group of sperm whales, resulting in a long and savage battle.
Jenna Tucker, a marine biologist who was on board the vessel, said: “Everyone was on the lookout for a small dorsal fin and long slender body, characteristic of beaked whale species.
“Instead, what we saw left our jaws gaping, the unmistakable arched back and tail of a sperm whale.”
The pod of orcas, in the dozens, swam circles around the five whales, who huddled together and attacked them.
Jennah didn’t notice any injuries but saw a large dark bubble which she initially suspected was blood.
She also saw an orca swim away with a piece of meat, although she can’t confirm if it came from a sperm whale.
She said: “The group of sperm whales appeared distressed and exhausted, huddled in a tight group.
“Members of Split Tip’s pod [orcas] including Wonks and Flapper swam tight circles around the huddled sperm whales who were thrashing their tails around to fend off the predators.
“The head of one of the larger adults emerged from the surface, with its mouth wide open, displaying its powerful toothed bottom jaw.
“Then, a large dark bubble rose to the surface amongst the huddle, believed at the time to have been blood.”
According to Jennah, this was an extremely rare sight as both animals are predators but they tend to leave each other alone,
While the origin of the meat and the dark bubble remains unknown, Jennah suspects the liquid was feces.
She explained: “Historically, it was thought that sperm whales, due to their size, herding behaviour and strong-toothed jaws were not vulnerable to killer whale predation.
“Sperm whales are known to defecate when threatened, referred to as emergency or defensive defection.
“Events like this are rarely witnessed, let alone documented, with only a handful of accounts having been recorded globally and will always remain an immense privilege and a reminder of just how wild these animals and this place are.”
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