Orcas Attacked Another Orca... And Solved A Decades Long Mystery

A rare case of killer whales preying on other orcas might have answered one of the oldest and most puzzling mysteries about orca behavior. A mystery that has stumped marine biologists for decades. 00:00 - 01:49 Orca VS Killer Whale 01:49 - 02:56 Antarctic Orcas 02:56 - 05:31 Orcas of the Pacific Northwest 05:31 - 07:47 Bigg’s Orcas VS Resident Killer Whales 07:47 - 09:53 Do Orcas Stay With Their Moms For Life? 09:53 - 11:10 Whale Gang Wars 11:10 - 12:28 Type B1 Orcas For a long time, marine biologists focused on why the Bigg’s orcas lived in small, fluid groups. It was originally believed to be due to the killer whales diet of marine mammals. This requires the orcas to hunt in silent, coordinated attacks and smaller party sizes reduces the likelihood of getting caught. The discovery of the severed dorsal fins and evidence of cannibalism has some researchers questioning this approach. Maybe instead of wondering why the Bigg’s orcas travel in small pods, the question we should have been asking is why do the Resident orcas stay with their mom’s for life? Especially since “resident killer whales exhibit a unique social system unlike that of any other mammal.” Resident orca pod structure doesn’t have anything to do with their preferred prey. Resident killer whales don’t hunt cooperatively. They hunt individually. There are also significant drawbacks to having offspring stay with their mothers for their entire lives. But there is one major advantage to living in a large group of close relatives. Animals are more likely to defend their relatives, especially their offspring. “High relatedness within these groups likely promotes mutual defense, with individuals more inclined to protect one another due to kin selection.” If Bigg’s killer whales occasionally prey on resident orcas, or if they preyed on them in their evolutionary past, then an anti-predator defense could explain why the resident orcas evolved such a unique social structure. Bigg’s preying on resident killer whales could also explain why the residents have been observed initiating the aggressive interactions. This is known as mobbing behavior and it’s common throughout the animal kingdom, especially in birds. Southern Resident Killer Whale Mother With New Calf Sea Doc Society, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and NOAA Fisheries Taken under permit 21348 Photogrammetry research on Southern Resident Orcas NOAA Fisheries & Vancouver Aquarium Taken under DFO research permit MML18 and Transport Canada flight authorization DTAG research on Southern Resident Killer Whale NOAA Fisheries taken under NMFS ESA/MMPA Permit 16163 Southern Resident Orca J50 Feeding Trials Filmed under NMFS research permit 18786 Winter 2015 Orca Research NOAA Fisheries Filmed under NMFS ESA/MMPA Permit 16163 Southern Resident Orca J50 Antibiotic Injection Preparation NOAA Fisheries Filmed under NMFS research permit 21368 Sources [1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-3vsEPhVT/?img_index=6 [2] https://eaglewingtours.com/articles/close-encounters-of-the-killer-whale-kind/ [3] https://www.knkx.org/environment/2021-10-12/rare-clash-between-two-distinct-kinds-of-orcas-in-the-salish-sea-and-the-endangered-fish-eaters-won [4] https://phys.org/news/2026-03-killer-whales-cannibals-dont.html [5] http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/rwb/kwinteractionsrev.pdf [6] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227660835_A_review_of_Killer_Whale_interactions_with_other_marine_mammals_predation_to_co-existence [7] https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/10/2008-Berger-killer-whale-chapter.pdf [10] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2907.1991.tb00291.x [11] https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibliotheque/113316.pdf [12] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228522774_Three_forms_of_killer_whales_Orcinus_orca_in_Antarctica [13] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.70142 [14] https://www.icelandic-orcas.com/post/orcas-and-pilot-whales-their-occurrence-and-interactions-in-iceland Join the KPassionate channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvSqEH92Fqn9uw1kmCfLGA/join ---------------------------- Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/kpassionate Twitch → https://www.twitch.tv/kpassionate Instagram → https://instagram.com/kp.assionate TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@kpassionate Discord → https://discord.gg/YuuHNm2t2E Merch →https://shop.kpassionate.com ----------------------- Music Cody Martin - soundstripe.com ADDITIONAL IMAGES NOAA Fisheries Vancouver Aquarium Nat Geo markoconnell - soundstripe.com BlackBoxGuid - soundstripe.com underWATERcam - stock.adobe.com Walmac - stock.adobe.com blackboxguild - stock.adobe.com Silver - stock.adobe.com Manuel Mata - stock.adobe.com Cavan - stock.adobe.com S Stelmakhovich - stock.adobe.com MarceloAugusto Stov - stock.adobe.com Thomas - stock.adobe.com Alexander Lim - stock.adobe.com #kpassionate #orca #whale