If Killer Whales....

[buggi]

...ever add us to their "food we like to eat list" we are in serious trouble!!!

Did anyone see the programme on them the other night? Let me give you a couple of examples.

1.. It has recently been discovered that a Killer Whale has learned to outsmart a Great White shark.... because it has learned to flip them over so that they go to into that tonic state where they seem like they're asleep. Then the whales kill it.

2. (and this is the scary one)... They played a film taken by some researchers, and said they were watching the whales who were swimming around a slab of ice. On the ice was a seal, but the whales couldn't get to it. After a while the whales seemed to give up and started to swim off. They got quite far off (but still visible) and then (and the film showed it)... the killer whales turned around and in precise formation (all five in a line with their noses exactly aligned... like something out of Sea World) they swam back, dipped under the slab of ice and then all rose to the surface so that the ice rose up on one side and the seal slid off! Dinner time!!

the narraters pointed out the most scariest thing of this... (a) they swam around until they had sussed out what to do to get the seal off the ice and (b) they then communicated this between them to swim in perfect formation to carry out the act.

To me, that is "actual talking". does anyone else find this a little bit scary???

 

[Hover Fly]

Just be glad they can't fly.








Yet.

 

[GTTTM]

To me, that is "actual talking". does anyone else find this a little bit scary???

Nope - lots of predatory animals that hunt in pack "communicate" to plan precise attacks

 

[coffeejo]

Nope - lots of predatory animals that hunt in pack "communicate" to plan precise attacks

+1

Black Sheep is the perfect example

 

[buggi]

yes but that is the whole point. what the researchers were saying is that other predatory animals, for instance, Lions, or even sharks, do it on instinct, they have a method and they stick to it. Whereas Killer Whales (which are in fact from the dolphin family,not whales are all) are so intelligent that they actually work out new ways of getting their pray all the time, and then they communicate it to each other in a way that other predatory animals don't. they're minds and language are far more advanced than that of other predatory animals. Hence why a Great White cannot outsmart a Killer Whale, because it uses instinct rather than working out how to solve the problem.

Apparently, they even have "accents". a bit like american vs. english accent, depending on where they come from.

the whole programme was a facinating and a little bit scary. They have no natural predators (other than man) and pretty formidable predators. if they put us on the food list, quite frankly i'd take my chances with a great white over them any day!

 

[ColinJ]

The bit where the woman was swimming with them while they were feeding was a bit worrying! The narrator said that they only hunt what their mothers taught them to hunt, so if you are not on the menu then you are okay ...

I'd be worried that I might happen to swim past one whose mum did teach it that humans were food!

 

[buggi]

The bit where the woman was swimming with them while they were feeding was a bit worrying! The narrator said that they only hunt what their mothers taught them to hunt, so if you are not on the menu then you are okay ...

I'd be worried that I might happen to swim past one whose mum did teach it that humans were food!

i thought that too! i'm pretty glad they seem to be on our side, but who knows when all that could change! perhaps they might discover they like the taste of chicken, and i heard we taste like chicken! LOL

i felt a bit sorry for the dolphin. i think the researchers should have saved it. after all, how many dolphins have saved humans from shark attacks??? or even just drowning?? they should have returned the favour! now that rumour will be spread in dolphin language so we won't be able to rely on dolphins to save us anymore!!!

 

[potsy]

Was an amazing programme that, my irrational fear of the Great White has now been replaced by one of the Killer Whale instead

The seal on the ice bit was particularly cunning, poor little bugger.

 

[Beebo]

Whales and Sharks are at far more danger from Humans that we are from them.

When we enter the water we're in their environment, so we must respect that.

 

[Arch]

Gradually, science and research are chipping away at the things we thought made us unique. Both good - communication, tools etc, and bad - apparent cruelty to prey (orca throwing seals around in the water), warfare (chimp tribes battling for territory) etc. All it needs is for meerkats to invent the wheel (they've already sussed the insurance apparently), and our pinnacle is well and truly flattened.

Lucky for the guys in this boat that these Orca didn't suss the tipping over trick. Double lucky for the penguin!

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBwqbqZ3L60[/media]

 

[potsy]

Wow, that was one lucky penguin indeed
I'd have had a panic attack being in that boat though.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I heard somewhere that killer whales are evolving into two different species, one that eats seals and one that eats something else.

 

[siadwell]

2. (and this is the scary one)... They played a film taken by some researchers, and said they were watching the whales who were swimming around a slab of ice. On the ice was a seal, but the whales couldn't get to it. After a while the whales seemed to give up and started to swim off. They got quite far off (but still visible) and then (and the film showed it)... the killer whales turned around and in precise formation (all five in a line with their noses exactly aligned... like something out of Sea World) they swam back, dipped under the slab of ice and then all rose to the surface so that the ice rose up on one side and the seal slid off! Dinner time!!

On his last expedition to the Antarctic, Scott observed Orcas working together to smash up an ice floe to get to the dogs and their handler on top of it. Some of the expedition's ponies were also stalked by orcas when the ice they were on cracked up and drifted away from the shore.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Was an amazing programme that, my irrational fear of the Great White has now been replaced by one of the Killer Whale instead

The seal on the ice bit was particularly cunning, poor little bugger.

I wouldn't call it an irrational fear.

 

[Arch]

I wouldn't call it an irrational fear.

It's fairly irrational if you're out riding a bike in Manchester. Even if they could get up the Ship Canal, they'd be useless on the road.