Close Menu
    @usluck
    @usluck
    Interesting

    Eye to eye with an Orca in the Antarctic


    Eye to eye with an Orca in the Antarctic



    by ibh400main

    View 45 Comments

    45 Comments

    11. carrot-man on

      I feel like, collectively, we don’t appreciate enough that Orcas choose to not eat us for some reason

    15. ILoveMyMKS on

      That would freak me out. I would wake up out of my sleep screaming. That’s a death stare.

    24. kurtfire68 on

      Is it me or did it feel like that Orca was trying to tell me something about my cars extended warranty

    34. MiserableSun9142 on

      Is it just me or does it look off, like the eye is way too small for that big of a creature? Is that the size of all orca’s eyes or is this one just weird??

    37. Charming-Awareness79 on

      They’re one of those animals where you look into their eyes and you appreciate that “someone’s home”. They’re not just the product of instinct and self preservation, it’s like they’re the masters of their world which we only get glimpses of.

    39. SurayaThrowaway12 on

      These are of course the Type B1 “Pack Ice” Antarctic orcas which use their famous wave-washing technique to wash seals off of ice floes.

      Type B1 orcas are known to spyhop when looking for seals hauled out on ice floes. Like orcas in many other populations, these orcas can also sometimes be very curious about humans and boats. Though they hunt mammals, these orcas can be very selective in their diets, even in regards to different seal species. At least some pods of these type B1 orcas have shown a [strong preference for hunting Weddell seals over other seal species, such as crabeater seals and leopard seals](https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1305&context=usdeptcommercepub). Crabeater seals and leopard seals are much more “snappy” than Weddell seals, and Weddell seals also often provide a more substantial meal to these orcas. Even though fur seals are fairly abundant there, these orcas have not been observed preying on them (perhaps at least partially due to fur seals having less blubber and more fur for insulation, making them significantly less appealing).

      Sadly, there are less than 100 type B1 orcas left in the Antarctic Peninsula, and due to rapid warming and the loss of pack ice, their population is [declining at a rate of about 5% each year](https://www.sealifer3.org/news/on-thin-ice-new-publications-highlight-the-impact-of-rapid-warming-on-killer-whale-populations-in-the-antarctica). It is likely that these orcas have been forced to move further south due to not finding enough seals on the remaining pack ice in the Antarctic Peninsula.

      Original video was filmed by wildlife photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey via EYOS Expeditions. He provides the following account of his encounter:

      > While out filming wildlife in the brash ice, a pod of Type B1 Killer Whales investigated our zodiac for just over a minute, allowing us to lock eyes with this magnificent apex predator. An incredible experience.

    Leave A Reply