I wonder why gray whales tend to swim solo or just mother and her baby. Other whales like sperm whales swim in groups which means a higher chance of survival against a pod of orcas.
Well, orcas only travel in pods because they're extremely social and reliant on each other. For instance, children often stay with their mothers for life. They're thought to have their own pod languages/dialects and everything. Humpbacks and blue wales, along with gray whales, are social, but not to the same degree as the orca, so they tend to swim solo. Babies eventually leave their moms. These whales often only swim in large groups during migration, when a lot of them are going int the same direction.
Even pods of sperm whales get successfully preyed upon by hunting orcas. They wait for the pod to dive into the depths to feed while mothers with calves must remain in the surface unprotected. That's when they'll attack.
That grey whale was lucky that it was just one Orca doing all the damage to it's tale, if it was a whole Orca pods i don't think the grey whale could've survibed their attck .. Orcas are really incredible.
5:09 if you look to the right of the screen as whale raises its tail it appears to be injured with some cuts to the tail and some blood. You gotta look closely.
You gotta look closely? Appears to be injured? Are we watching the same video? Because I saw nothing but biting and blood. Like at 2:02 and that's only a couple of minutes into the long video.
The persistence of the Killer Whale attack on the Pacific Gray Whale usually plays out beyond view. In this case, the Pacific Gray Whale was able to deter its attacker. A concerted attack by a pod of Orcas on a newborn calf can have a different ending. The "Killer Whale" moniker is well-deserved.
Can't tell if the Gray whale is even a full-grown adult...never thought Orca attacked full grown. They really are gentle giants, they're bigger than the Orcas and yet wouldn't turn around and head bunt ram.
Yeah after a while if a hunt proves to be more costly energy-wise the orcas will give up and search for easier prey. Teeth marks on adult humpack and gray whale flukes and flippers are testament that adults tend to survive orca predation attacks. Harder to take on a massive adult who knows how to throw its weight around defensively (flukes)...
I witnessed the same thing happening off the cliffs of Santa Cruz Island only difference was that there was a calf being attacked. I saw twenty whales that day but only (hopefully) two magnificent gray whales.
Yes, breathing is a good point. But it looks so vulnerable just flapping its big tail every time an orca bites a chunk out of it. It needs an escape plan like, "down periscope and just bloody dive!" @@RedSquirrelHunter
Gray whales are extremely slow. The average person runs faster than a gray whale swims. The orcas are fast, and can also just dive with it. The only thing a gray whale can do is use its size advantage to try to ward of the orcas.
We have limitations, too. It appears this was a case of the whales getting closer to a whale watching tour boat. I think it’s 200 yds and maintain 400 yds from their course. 1000 yd distance now for Southern Resident orcas. Boaters are instructed to kill engines to prevent prop strike if it’s safe to do so. Even lowering sails last I heard.
Speed isn't really a factor. These gray whales are already extremely slow when they're completely healthy, while orcas are very fast, so they never outswim orcas anyway. As humans, we run faster than gray whales swim. Sometimes these extremely large prey are just too formidable/take too long to die, and the orcas do just give up. It's not like when they go after seals and penguins, and 1-2 bites is all it takes. It takes a long time to kill these huge whales, and sometimes these orcas have bitten off more than they can chew.
Orcas own the seas, i find it too cruel to watch them kill, they go around killing dolphins for sport, spend hours to exhaust and drown whales just to eat the tongue, they even kill baby whales as the mother tries to protect them, eat the tongues and leave the dead baby whale with heartbroken mother. They can be very cruel creatures.
Agreed it can appear cruel to us. But that sport is training. Bigg’s killers are predatory packs, no less than wolves or coyotes, or lions etc. Their survival depends on their training and lessons. I wonder if our Southern Resident Salish orcas will adapt to hunting mammals before it’s too late for them… I hope they do. Different ecotypes entirely but we can hope for their sake.
@@MP77USA yes, you are absolutely correct, I think that because we live in the safety of well organised societies we forget the fight for survival going on all around us and it can seem very cruel to us when in fact that is life, the struggle to survive.
When you’re starving, you won’t care how big your meal is…. It’s bit like they can choose a snack instead . The whole wale would have been consumed eventually. So don’t worry!
Confidence in numbers. They don't attack prey like large whales and great whites alone. Also, they may consider these easier targets because they're so large, slow, and docile. They have a very limited ability to defend themselves.
