PRB
November 29th, 2009, 16:38
Watched a show on one of those science/discovery channel stations. It was amazing. It seems Killer Whales (Orcas) attack and eat Great White sharks. Who knew? But second most interesting is how they kill them. Have you ever heard that if you turn a shark over on it's back it will go to sleep? Researchers use this knowledge to tag sharks routinely. They get them along side the boat, flip them over, wait until they're “sleeping”, then tag 'em. It seems that orcas have figured this out as well. There is film of a Killer Whale off San Francisco holding a Great White shark upside down. The next film opportunity of the ill-fated Great White featured only his liver, which has being fed upon by the orcas. The actual ripping to shreds of the shark by the orcas was not actually captured on film.
When I first started watching this show on the TV, I thought the researchers, in typical PC fashion, were going to attribute the orca's attack of the shark to protecting the tourists on the boat, from which some of the footage was shot. But it seems Killer Whales often do kill sharks, in this same way, by first putting them to sleep by turning them upside down.
But what's most interesting about this what the whale researchers call “cultures”. Not all Killer Whales kill sharks, and not in this way. Some Killer Whales, off South Africa, swim up on the beach to catch seals. Other Killer Whales, in more northern latitudes, learn to make waves,which drive the seals off the ice chunks they're resting on, into the water, were they are promptly swallowed up. Other Killer Whales kill sharks by ramming them, turning them upside down until they fall asleep, them eating them. The whales that know how to wash seals overboard from their ice chunks are not the same ones who drive up on the beach to catch seals in South Africa. We know this by the knowledge that has been gained by tagging and tracking individual whales.
Interesting.
When I first started watching this show on the TV, I thought the researchers, in typical PC fashion, were going to attribute the orca's attack of the shark to protecting the tourists on the boat, from which some of the footage was shot. But it seems Killer Whales often do kill sharks, in this same way, by first putting them to sleep by turning them upside down.
But what's most interesting about this what the whale researchers call “cultures”. Not all Killer Whales kill sharks, and not in this way. Some Killer Whales, off South Africa, swim up on the beach to catch seals. Other Killer Whales, in more northern latitudes, learn to make waves,which drive the seals off the ice chunks they're resting on, into the water, were they are promptly swallowed up. Other Killer Whales kill sharks by ramming them, turning them upside down until they fall asleep, them eating them. The whales that know how to wash seals overboard from their ice chunks are not the same ones who drive up on the beach to catch seals in South Africa. We know this by the knowledge that has been gained by tagging and tracking individual whales.
Interesting.