Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) attack and kill a Bryde's whale ( Balaenoptera edeni )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Silber, Gregory K., Newcomer, Michael W., M., Héctor Pérez-Cortés
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1990
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Orca; Orcinus orca
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z90-238; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z90-238

On 3 May 1988, we observed a group of killer whales that pursued, killed, and partially consumed a Bryde's whale in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico (31°01′N, 114°15′W). The attack was observed from 06:54 to 08:53 while circling in a single-engine aircraft at an altitude of 160 m. The group comprised about 15 killer whales, including two adult males and at least two calves. Females and (or) subadult males pressed the attack most intently. The killer whales tore skin and blubber from the right flank of the Bryde's whale, and on 11 occasions the killer whales swam onto the head or back of the Bryde's whale, which hindered its breathing. The respiration intervals of the Bryde's whale were short and irregular, and blow rates differed significantly from those of undisturbed Bryde's whales. Fatiguing the whale may have facilitated an easier kill by asphyxiation. After the death of the Bryde's whale, the two adult male killer whales surfaced slowly about 200–300 m away from the remainder of the group, which presumably fed on the submerged Bryde's whale carcass. Two days later, the drifting Bryde's whale carcass was located. A large wound was visible on the abdomen, and sections of the lower jaw had been removed. Like those of canids and some felids that hunt cooperatively when preying on ungulates, attacks by Orcinus orca exhibit coordination of activities and efficiency in dispatching prey.