(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Gabriel Barathieu)
A pod of sperm whales had a close encounter with a pod of hungry orcas. Fortunately, the former survived using a surprising and disgusting defense strategy.
Sperm Whales Use Disgusting 'Defensive Defecation' To Survive From Orcas
Orcas have been attacking whales, and the i incident on Tuesday (March 19), as shared by Naturaliste Charters Bremer Canyon Killer Whale and Pelagic Expeditions, was no different. It was what they called the "Battle of the Apex Predators" -- an encounter between killer whales and sperm whales.
The group arrived on the spot and found pods of orcas foraging. They had not spotted a single sperm whale until that day.
They witnessed how the pod of orcas swam after a sperm whale, who turned out to be accompanied by four others, with one much smaller than the rest and believed to be a juvenile.
The sperm whales were reportedly distressed and exhausted. Until one of the orcas began tail slapping, the others moved away from the sperm whale.
Shortly after, they noticed something red in the water and later saw the orcas with a small chunk of meat in their mouths. The other orcas kept their distance.
Initially, they thought those were meat from the sperm whales they attacked. However, with a closer look, they realized they were meat scraps. Also, the meat reportedly appeared more like squid than mammal meat.
They were confused about whether they had witnessed predation or not. They later realized that the red liquid, which they thought was a bubble of blood exploding on the surface, was a cloud of diarrhea released by the sperm whales.
The latter defecate when threatened, and their feces appear reddish in color because their diet is 90 percent squid. Jenna Tucker, a marine biologist who works aboard the tour boat, calls this "defensive defecation."
"And it seems like it actually did work in this case," she added.
How Orcas Hunt?
Killer whales practice cooperative hunting to target larger prey. Orcas in Monterey Bay use violent techniques, including headbutting, tail slapping, and ganging up their prey.
A team of scientists has been studying a specific subpopulation of these vicious animals since 2006. They have found that these whales will eat anything and everything, including sea lions, gulls, elephant seals, and gray whale pups. They will also use every method required to capture their target.
Photographs captured in the wild show a group of raptors assembling to kill and eat a grey whale calf whose mother had abandoned it. Another photo depicts an orca tossing a dolphin into the air like a rag doll.
These findings offer a rare glimpse into the lives of these killer whale subpopulations, mostly unstudied by the scientific community and predominantly engaged in open-water animal hunting.
Since they are very social, researchers assumed that killer whales, Port and Starboard, always worked together to hunt whales. However, new footage showed Starboard attacking an 8.2-foot juvenile shark alone, and it got the liver in just two minutes.
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