Disabled Killer Whale Survives with Help from Its Pod. A disabled killer whale missing two of its fins and unable to hunt to feed itself is able to survive through the help of its family. The young male killer whale, or orca, has no dorsal fin or right-side pectoral fin, leaving it unable to hunt and capture prey for itself. Instead of being abandoned or rejected by its pod and left to die, however, the killer whale appears to have been cared for and supported by the members of its pod, which share food with the young whale. In one of the only times that killer whales have been observed feeding and caring for a non-hunting member, underwater photographer Rainer Schimpf made the heart-warming discovery while tracking the pod hunting in waters off Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Schimpf explained to The Daily Mail that this phenomenon demonstrates that orcas “ have complex, caring social-structures in which they care for their own disabled members.” Schimpf observed and photographed the pod, consisting of seven members – a female with a bent dorsal fin, four other females, a “huge male,” and the disabled young male – as they hunted and killed a Bryde’s whale measuring 50 feet in length and weighing an enormous 15 tons. Schimpf explained that the young disabled killer whale stayed at a distance while the rest of the pod hunted the Bryde’s whale at the surface and then deep in the ocean depths. “It was brave and curious enough to come close to the boat and inspect us, but after a while he disappeared as well, presumably to dive down to the whale feast below,” Schimpf explained. This discovery is only one of a handful where an injured or disabled killer whale has been known to survive with the help of its pod.-from Justine Sullivans blog.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 21:01:07 +0000
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