Animal Encounter #3 ~ A mother orca teaching her young to hunt Aug 18, 2016
This encounter was quite something to watch - a school lesson. A mother teaching her young the basics of how to hunt & forage for food. Quite a special event to witness, right? Unless you like harbour porpoise... then you aren't going to enjoy this post. But eh, I've said it once and I will say it again.
I came across a pod of Bigg's orca (mammal hunting killer whale) behaving in such a way that suggested they were on the hunt. This instantly makes me keep my distance and out of their way to ensure they can continue to hunt efficiently.
Before long their surface behaviour changed and it suggested they found something, which they did... a harbour porpoise. Since the pod had young juveniles and calves in it, the females will typically hunt prey that pose little to risk of injuring her little ones. Porpoise are tiny and lack any major teeth or major aggressive behaviour that might hurt the juveniles.
Most times when a grown orca comes across a porpoise it is usually over in a split second, as they just need to chomp down once and its game over for the porpoise and a small tasty snack for the predator. However, this time around the female was slowly chasing it and pushing the porpoise in front of the her kids. She was teaching them how to hunt a porpoise. It seemed as if the little ones saw it as being a game, playing with the porpoise, lifting it onto their heads and pushing the animal towards their other sibling. Every time the porpoise seemed to get away, mum would speed up, grab it and push it back in front of the kids.
After a few moments of this almost 'cat and mouse' interaction. Mum decided it was over, grabbed the porpoise, chomped down and that was that. They shared their lunch with one another before continuing along the coastline swimming side by side. Just another awesome wild encounter with a family of orca going about their day.
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What a thrilling experience. I pray for the day that I may witness one of these majestic animals. Such great quality content. What camera did you use?
Remarkable encounter with the predator/prey relationship. The circle of life can be so beautiful yet savage. Thanks for sharing your experience.
verry niiice picturres !!!
More great whale pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Ohh my good.....nice photography ...nice dolfin are playing
Good post my friend.
I really like your pictures. Nicely captured in fact!
woow!!beautiful pictures! i loove it ! good work
From your post, It is so obvious that animals in general are instinctively wise. It is just for us to pay close attention to them, like the way you deed. For me I learnt a vital lesson from this post, (1) parent should teach their children how to fend for themselves. (2) like the mother who patiently assist her young by speedily grabbing the porpoise and push it back to the kids , parents should patiently assist their children as they are working along the road of success. Thank you very much for this educative post and I also appreciate your use of discretion by keeping a distance and out of their way to ensure they can continue to hunt efficiently.
beautiful pictures!