Dramatic footage showed killer whales using a rare hunting technique to trap and kill a seal in the icy waters surrounding Antarctica.
The video, part of the BBC’s new Frozen Planet II documentary released Sunday in the UK, shows four killer whales that attacked a Weddell Seal. The seal had found refuge on a platform made of ice floating on water.
The killer whales started by swimming side by side, which created a wave that cracked the seal’s large ice platform into a smaller one, making it vulnerable.
A second wave the whales generated knocked the seal off the ice into the water, where the whales could attack it.
Once the seal was in the water, the whales used another hunting technique: blowing bubbles to confuse the seal, which made it easier to catch.
There are only about 100 killer whales on Earth that use this sophisticated coordinated hunting technique, per the documentary, narrated by the naturalist Sir David Attenborough. It is known as “wave-crashing”.
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Killer whales are known for their precise targeted attacks. A recent report showed the animals are able to rip out great white sharks’ internal organs, such as their liver, with surgical precision.
An expert previously told Insider they might do so by using their echolocation to find the fattiest organs in their prey.
Killer whales aren’t put off by hunting animals larger than them. Rare footage released earlier this year showed them attacking and killing at least two blue whales, the largest animals on the planet.
The orcas were recorded swimming into the mouth of the blue whales to chomp off their rich tongues.
Often referred to as “Killer Whales,” orcas are actually the largest member of the dolphin family, and one of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Males can weigh up to 12,000-pounds and females up to 8,000-pounds, and be about the size of a school bus. They also have the second largest brain out of all animals in the world.
Their intelligence leads to smarter living as they often will work together in their social groups known as “pods.”
Their intelligence and pack-like hunting ability has also given them their nickname as the “wolves of the sea,” and they are also the ONLY known predator of Great White Sharks, one of the baddest mf’ers on the entire planet.
Between their sheer size, speed and cunning ways… anytime a video hits the internet showing these amazing animals at work, it’s hard not to pay attention and just be amazed by what is going down.
Like many ocean predators, a favorite meal item are seals, and lucky for them, there are plenty to go around in many areas they reside. Unfortunately, they compete with the seals for salmon which is another favorite food of many orca populations, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
Seals are smart too though, so these orcas have to be smarter sometimes in order to get a meal.
In this video, a seal is seen lounging out on a chunk of ice, as they typically do… where it is safe… or so it thought.
A pod of orcas, determined to get to this seal, come swimming up to the ice chunk in a row, almost as if they’re doing a “Flying V” from the Mighty Ducks. The pod swims by the seal using their tale fins to create a series of waves.
The waves come crashing into the piece of ice , washing the seal back into the water… and now, the unfortunate seal will be easy pickins for the pod of orcas unless he can quickly get back to safety.
This is almost unbelievable how well they work together.