Humpback Attacked By Pods Of Orcas – Rare Video Footage

A couple of orca pods attempt to take down a lone humpback whale during a 4-hour attack. The whole ordeal is recorded on video by whale watchers in Australia.

The whale is reported to be a 2 to 3 years old. Fortunately he was able to fend for himself during relentless attacks, losing only a dorsal fin. The orcas were attempting a flip and drown maneuver, even ramming the whale to cause injury. It didn’t work , the whale was too large and gave a good fight, even using the whale watching boat for cover.

This attack occurred in Bremer Bay, Western Australia. It involved 2 pods totaling about 15 orcas.

Watch the video clip below to get an idea of what the whale had to go through.

Read below for a more/very detailed blow-by-blow description of what happened:

Humpback survives Killer Whale attack for the first time ever recorded in the Bremer Canyon. Arriving on scene we watched on as a commotion of white water erupted and we knew that the Orca had successfully surrounded what they had been targeting, but our hearts skipped a beat as we watched the unmistakable fluke of a Humpback Whale lift above the waters surface. The hunt was now unfolding in front of us as Queen (aka Split Tip) and Cookie’s family pods began to target the Humpback. Latching onto the dorsal fin, the movements of all the Orca were to try and roll him upside down to drown the Humpback as quickly as possible. A true fighter, the Humpback resiliently rolled back over and over again, thrashing with his fluke as he tried desperately to defend himself.

Stormy started to breach in excitement as further members of her family pod arrived and the breathing of the Humpback become more laboursome and increased. Desperately trying to evade the Orca we could see the young Humpback swimming directly towards us at speed as the Orca followed. We have observed mother Humpback Whales protecting their calves on previous tours by using our vessel, but never before being pursued by Orca as he sought the protection of our vessel. The Orca chased after him and we watched on in complete awe as they pushed to within five meters of our bow, the Humpback diving underneath us just as the Orca once again latched onto his dorsal fin. Circling the boat repeatedly, the Orca followed for a while as this strong Humpback began to get his breathing rate back to normal. Sharks began to circle around the boat 3-4 meters below the surface as the Orca moved out and to our amazement Pilot Whales surged into the area. Attracted by all the commotion, the Pilot Whales had arrived on scene and curiously moved past us only 50 meters away as the Humpback continued to circle our vessel.

…. (Read more at the link below)

H/T – YouTube – Whale Watch Western Australia

Read a more detailed description here on livescience.com

Images Source: YouTube Clips

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