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It seems orcas are on a killing rampage of note.

They’ve gone for adult grey whales, and yachts in the Strait of Gibraltar, and of course, we’ve all become familiar with the infamous liver-eating duo Port and Starboard who have basically chased all the great white sharks from our coastlines.

Now they’re laying siege on a maternal pod of sperm whales in Western Australia.

A whale-watching vessel filmed the extremely rare event on March 24 in the Bremer Canyon, 70 kilometres off the coast from Bremer Bay. SWNS News reported that whale-watching company Naturaliste Charters had been tracking the orcas as they searched for food, but then noticed the giant predators suddenly attacked a group of sperm whales.

Jenna Tucker, a marine biologist who was on board the vessel, said that everyone was on the lookout for a small dorsal fin and long slender body, characteristic of beaked whale species.

“Instead, what we saw left our jaws gaping, the unmistakable arched back and tail of a sperm whale.”

The loaded pod of orcas swam circles around the five whales, who huddled together as they were attacked. Jenna said that the group of sperm whales “appeared distressed and exhausted, huddled in a tight group.”

“Members of Split Tip’s pod [orcas] including Wonks and Flapper swam tight circles around the huddled sperm whales who were thrashing their tails around to fend off the predators.

“The head of one of the larger adults emerged from the surface, with its mouth wide open, displaying its powerful toothed bottom jaw.

“Then, a large dark bubble rose to the surface amongst the huddle, believed at the time to have been blood.”

She also saw an orca swim away with a piece of meat, although she can’t confirm if it came from a sperm whale.

The origin of the meat and the dark bubble remains unknown, but Jennah suspects the liquid was faeces as sperm whales are known to defecate when threatened, referred to as emergency or defensive defection.

According to Jennah, this was an extremely rare sight as both animals are predators but they tend to leave each other alone.

She explained: “Historically, it was thought that sperm whales, due to their size, herding behaviour and strong-toothed jaws were not vulnerable to killer whale predation.

“Events like this are rarely witnessed, let alone documented, with only a handful of accounts having been recorded globally and will always remain an immense privilege and a reminder of just how wild these animals and this place are.”

Give them a squiz:

The orcas must be really hungry if they’re going to such extreme lengths.

[source:swns]