count up to 200 piles and stretching as long as 100 feet , blue whalesare by far the largest animal on Earth . But these giant of the sea do n’t sit well atop the food mountain range . Orcas have been make out to occasionally stalk and assault dispirited whales . Now , for the first clip , scientists have record a pod of orcas successfully convey down their giant quarry , CNNreports .
A group of researchers see the cleanup in March 2019 , and they write their finding in the journalMarine Mammal Sciencein January 2022 . The hunt was underway when the scientists follow upon the scenery in Bremer Bay in Western Australia . Twelve to 14 orcas were attacking the adult heavyweight , and they had already deplume away share of its snout and dorsal fin when the researchers arrived .
The blue whale press back by flail its monumental tush , but within an hour , it had succumb to its attackers . More orca arrive following the successful hunt , with as many as 50 eating on the carcass at one point . you may watch the saga play out in the video below .
The paper also details the killings of two blasphemous whale calves in the same area : one a few hebdomad after the first incident in 2019 and the other in 2021 . At least 16 of the orcas the scientists take note were present for all three hunt . Prior to their study , there was no record of orcas killing blue heavyweight — mature or juvenile .
Killer whalestypically prey on fish , squids , andother toothed whales , but as the new research show , they have their choice of nautical delicacies to opt from . The whale have even been observedattacking great white sharksand feasting on their reed organ , solidifying their status as the apex predators of the sea .
One trait that makes orcas so unnerving is their complex social skills . Hunting in groups is what grant them to take down prey many times their size of it . Here are morefascinating facts about whalesyou should know .
