The brutality of nature was on full display along the Aussie coast this week as a boat full of tourists was treated to the sight of more than 60 orcas successfully hunting a blue whale — an encounter so “rare” it’s only the fourth recorded instance of its kind.
Photographer Machu Yoshida was aboard the Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching boat on Monday when the five pods of orcas “changed their behaviour” in the water around Bremer Canyon, off the southern coast of Western Australia.
“We were following the killer whales [orcas] that day and then they changed their behaviour, they started surging,” Machu told Yahoo News. Surging is when orcas lift their bodies above the surface of the water while moving at speed, allowing them to breathe clearly and not slow down while approaching prey. It was at that moment the boat full of people quickly realised what was under them.
There were more than 60 orcas in the water. Source: Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching/Allan Cronin
“There were five families of the orcas around the blue whale and they all started to hunt it,” Machu said.
The more than 60 orcas in the water were “working together” to attack one of the largest animals in the world. It only took them 90 minutes.
It only took 90 minutes for the orcas to kill the blue whale. Source: Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching/Machu Yoshida
The slain blue whale easily fed five orca families
Machu explained watching the encounter unfold was “bittersweet”. The brutal attack would have been important to the orcas as it successfully scored them a hefty meal.
“I felt mixed emotions. I love blue whales so it was sad to watch its life being taken by the orcas, but they were all so intelligent, it was incredible to watch them do it,” she said. “The blue whale would feed all the orcas and feed other animals under the water too, like sharks and fish, and also birds get the scraps.”
The blue whale easily fed all of the orcas. Source: Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching/Allan Cronin
It’s not the first time a commercial whale-watching vessel has witnessed a fatal encounter between orcas and a blue whale along this part of the WA coast, with a few successful attacks documented since 2019.
Juvenile orcas learning to hunt during attack
There were juvenile orcas among the pods preying on the blue whale on Monday and Machu’s colleague Jennah Tucker, who is a marine biologist and also witnessed the attack, told the ABC there was a one-month calf present.
“They are involved from a young age — this calf has no teeth but stuck by mum’s side,” Jennah said.
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