Around 100 tourists on a whale watching tour with Nordur-Sigling from Húsavík on Skjálfandaflói bay in northeast Iceland were in for a shock on Tuesday night when they observed a group of killer whales attack a larger minke whale, slaughter and eat it.
“No one was expecting to observe slaughter but we decided to follow this natural phenomenon because it is very unusual,” Heimir Hardarson, marketing director of Nordur-Sigling, told Morgunbladid, adding that the tourists, who were mostly foreign, had been very taken aback by the spectacle.
Tuesday was likely the first time that pictures have been taken of killer whales attacking a larger mammal in Icelandic waters. Killer whales are on top of the food chain of predators in the ocean and are sometimes called the wolves of the sea.
Killer whales are divided into two groups—which some say are two different species—one of which only feeds on fish and another which hunts mammals of all sizes. Until now, only the first group was believed to live in Icelandic waters.
“It was obviously very organized and not rushed at all,” Hardarson described. “They acted like those who are in power and the calves jumped around and played in the blood.”
Hardarson and his associates counted between 20 and 30 killer whales that participated in the attack. They were very coordinated; they had surrounded the minke whale and then took charge in turn.
Hardarson said the minke whale had been terrified. “It was so confused that it swam into the boat two times and one time it looked as if it was going to hide underneath it.”
The minke whale died after a heroic fight, Hardarson said, and then there was a great feast for the killer whales which shared their catch with every member of the group.
Killer whales are known to have killed great white sharks and blue whales, but they are not known to have attacked people.
donderdag 24 juli 2008
maandag 21 juli 2008
Killers have whale of a time as numbers grow
Shetland Islands Killer whales have been schooling off Shetland in record numbers, with up to 100 spotted by scientists feeding together at one time.
The lives and activities of the orcas are being catalogued by Andy Foote of Aberdeen University and Volker Deecke from the St Andrews Sea Mammals Research Unit. Their study is identifying the movements and feeding habits of the whale pods and trying to find out why there appear to have been more sightings in recent years. Some are drawn into the islands to hunt seals. One was seen bearing a fresh scar, apparently after scraping over rocks.
While accompanying a local fisherman, Mr Foote saw 100 killer whales feeding together. He was also able to identify a whale as the same one that was photographed in 1991.
One of the more frequently seen whales is Bigga, who is 7m long and was named after an uninhabited island between Shetland and Yell, to which he bears a passing resemblance. He usually lives alone, although he is sometimes to be found with a pod of five, including Busta, the leader of the group, and Ossa, the smallest member, who is thought to be either the younger brother or nephew of Busta.
The lives and activities of the orcas are being catalogued by Andy Foote of Aberdeen University and Volker Deecke from the St Andrews Sea Mammals Research Unit. Their study is identifying the movements and feeding habits of the whale pods and trying to find out why there appear to have been more sightings in recent years. Some are drawn into the islands to hunt seals. One was seen bearing a fresh scar, apparently after scraping over rocks.
While accompanying a local fisherman, Mr Foote saw 100 killer whales feeding together. He was also able to identify a whale as the same one that was photographed in 1991.
One of the more frequently seen whales is Bigga, who is 7m long and was named after an uninhabited island between Shetland and Yell, to which he bears a passing resemblance. He usually lives alone, although he is sometimes to be found with a pod of five, including Busta, the leader of the group, and Ossa, the smallest member, who is thought to be either the younger brother or nephew of Busta.
vrijdag 18 juli 2008
Lone orca may have joined pod
Numerous sightings of orca pods around Auckland have given researcher Ingrid Visser new hope that the juvenile whale relaunched at Takapuna will be found with a group, probably further north in Rodney.
Dr Visser says she had about 100 phone calls on one day.
The whales have been seen at Kawau Bay, Snells Beach, Milford Beach and North Head.
Despite dedicating a whole day looking for her in the Hauraki Gulf the young whale has yet to be found.
"We spent day to day going from subgroup to subgroup but no little orca."
Three were seen off Milford Beach at about 3pm last Thursday afternoon by Glenfield resident Peter Ryan.
He estimated they were about 200 metres offshore.
"I’ve never seen anything so close."
Mr Ryan says he saw two together and a third further out.
"One was very large, you could tell by the size of its fin. I’m guessing they were chasing stingrays."
Dr Visser says there are at least three different pods in the Hauraki Gulf and the juvenile could be among any one of them.
Another is reported to be on its way from the Bay of Islands.
"We haven’t seen her yet, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t joined one of these groups."
Dr Visser says killer whales can hear each other from nearly 20km away underwater, which makes it easier for them to meet up.
Dr Visser says she had about 100 phone calls on one day.
The whales have been seen at Kawau Bay, Snells Beach, Milford Beach and North Head.
Despite dedicating a whole day looking for her in the Hauraki Gulf the young whale has yet to be found.
"We spent day to day going from subgroup to subgroup but no little orca."
Three were seen off Milford Beach at about 3pm last Thursday afternoon by Glenfield resident Peter Ryan.
He estimated they were about 200 metres offshore.
"I’ve never seen anything so close."
Mr Ryan says he saw two together and a third further out.
"One was very large, you could tell by the size of its fin. I’m guessing they were chasing stingrays."
Dr Visser says there are at least three different pods in the Hauraki Gulf and the juvenile could be among any one of them.
Another is reported to be on its way from the Bay of Islands.
"We haven’t seen her yet, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t joined one of these groups."
Dr Visser says killer whales can hear each other from nearly 20km away underwater, which makes it easier for them to meet up.
Killer whale flips seals out of water with its tail
Just when the seals thought it was safe to go back in the water . . . along came Bigga
He's an adult male orca or killer whale, about seven metres from nose to tail, weighing probably more than five tonnes and with a dorsal fin almost as tall as Portsmouth's new striker Peter Crouch.
In captivity an orca needs to down a daily 45kgs, equivalent to a small adult common seal. The appetite of a sea-going wild adult is much bigger.
In Whales of the World (1981), Lyall Watson refers to a report of an adult male found to have parts of 13 porpoises and 14 seals in its stomach - and another seal in its throat.
So when Bigga cruised menacingly into South Nesting Bay about 10 miles north of Lerwick, capital of the Shetland Isles, the fear that gripped the local seal colony was palpable.
"They were very aware of his presence and sensed that they were his target", said Andy Foote, an Aberdeen University postgraduate researcher working on the Scottish Killer Whale Project.
"As Bigga cruised up and down very close, staying out of the sea was their best survival strategy. At one point we saw a female with her flippers protectively around her pup, seemingly trying to make sure it didn't panic and slip into the water."
But three hours of patience finally paid off for the huge predator. The watchers realised this when a cloud of blood appeared suddenly on the sea's surface, then there was turmoil as the remains of the pup Bigga had just seized were flipped into the air by a powerful swipe of his tail.
"Killer whales often play with their food in this way", explained Mr Foote. "We don't really know why they do that - it's one of many mysteries that surround these fascinating animals."
Examples of this behaviour are given in Whales of the World: "We have seen a group in the Galapagos dismember a five metre manta ray by throwing it into the air."
Getting to know individual killer whales is an important part of the project engrossing Mr Foote and his colleague, Dr Volker Deecke, from the Sea Mammals Research Unit at St Andrews' University.
Once an orca is identified via photo, it is given a number and a name. Bigga - named after a whale-shaped island between mainland Shetland and neighbouring Yell - is also known as 014.
Often alone, Bigga sometimes joins the pod of five involved in last year's attack on a group of eider ducks that were flightless due to moulting.
That pod's big adult male has the number 032 and the name Busta - after Busta Voe. Its smallest member, a three-year-old numbered 067, has just been named Ossa, a location in north-west Mainland Shetland after public suggestions were invited.
With a different pod of eight reported this summer, the orca presence in Shetland is considered greater than in former times - and Mr Foote feels this is supported by an aspect of local folklore.
Shetlanders have special names for prominent local creatures - for instance the great skua, a rare seabird, is known as the bonxie, the black guillemot is the tystie and the common seal, the selkie.
"Perhaps significantly, however, there isn't a Shetland name for the killer whale", said Mr Foote. "That could indicate it has only been appearing regularly in Shetland waters in comparatively recent times."
If that is the case, one possibility is that it is linked to the disappearance of sand-eels from Shetland and Orkney waters since the 1980s.
Killer whales don't feed directly on them but their normal diet covers a range of creatures - sea mammals, birds and larger fish - that do. Has there been a change in hunting patterns due to the food chain disruption caused by the sand-eel absence?
maandag 14 juli 2008
Researcher hunts for orca
Numerous sightings of orca pods around Auckland have given researcher Ingrid Visser new hope that the juvenile whale relaunched at Takapuna will be found with a group.
Dr Visser says she had about 100 phone calls on one day.
The whales have been seen at Kawau Bay, Snells Beach, Milford Beach and North Head.
Despite dedicating a whole day looking for her in the Hauraki Gulf the young whale has yet to be found.
"We spent day to day going from subgroup to subgroup but no little orca."
Three were seen off Milford Beach at about 3pm on Thursday afternoon by Glenfield resident Peter Ryan.
He estimated they were about 200m offshore.
"I’ve never seen anything so close."
Mr Ryan says he saw two together and a third further out.
"One was very large, you could tell by the size of its fin. I’m guessing they were chasing stingrays."
Dr Visser says there are at least three different pods in the Hauraki Gulf and the juvenile could be amongst any one of them.
Another is reported to be on its way from the Bay of Islands.
"We haven’t seen her yet, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t joined one of these groups."
Dr Visser says killer whales can hear each other from nearly 20km away under water, which makes it easier for them to meet up.
She would still like to hear from the public if they see any more orca whales and can be contacted on 0800-733-6722.
Dr Visser says she had about 100 phone calls on one day.
The whales have been seen at Kawau Bay, Snells Beach, Milford Beach and North Head.
Despite dedicating a whole day looking for her in the Hauraki Gulf the young whale has yet to be found.
"We spent day to day going from subgroup to subgroup but no little orca."
Three were seen off Milford Beach at about 3pm on Thursday afternoon by Glenfield resident Peter Ryan.
He estimated they were about 200m offshore.
"I’ve never seen anything so close."
Mr Ryan says he saw two together and a third further out.
"One was very large, you could tell by the size of its fin. I’m guessing they were chasing stingrays."
Dr Visser says there are at least three different pods in the Hauraki Gulf and the juvenile could be amongst any one of them.
Another is reported to be on its way from the Bay of Islands.
"We haven’t seen her yet, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t joined one of these groups."
Dr Visser says killer whales can hear each other from nearly 20km away under water, which makes it easier for them to meet up.
She would still like to hear from the public if they see any more orca whales and can be contacted on 0800-733-6722.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)