False killer whales – Syndication Server

False killer whales devour huge marlin in rare event caught on video

A sportfishing guide in Fiji shared footage Monday showing false killer whales attacking a hooked 300-pound marlin, leaving only the head for the anglers.

**UPDATE: The mammals in the footage were initially identified by the fishing guide (and reported here) as pilot whales, but they are false killer whales

A sportfishing guide in Fiji shared footage Monday showing false killer whales attacking a hooked 300-pound marlin, leaving only the head for the anglers.

“Can hardly believe what we witnessed today!” Jaga Crossingham, guide at Kokomo Private Island Fiji, exclaimed via Instagram. “A fired up pack of [false killer whales] took down this 140kg+ Marlin, Swipe to see what happened!”

Viewers who swipe on the post will see a false killer whale releasing its grasp on the marlin’s head just off the stern. “Wow, they ate everything,” someone on the boat observes.

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A post shared by Jaga Crossingham (@jagafiji)

The next clip shows the mammals swimming behind the boat as if hoping to continue the feast. The final clip is a still shot of a false killer whale near the marlin’s head.

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Crossingham told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was on the hook for about 15 minutes “when I realized the [false killer whales] were starting to behave more like a pack of sharks. The whole attack was only a couple of minutes.”

False killer whales are found around the world in tropical and temperate waters, usually far offshore.

They’re highly social animals that typically travel in small groups associated with a larger pod. They prey largely on squid and fish and often share prey with other pod members.

They are so sociable that they’ve even been known to share prey with boaters and divers.

Said Crossingham: “It definitely was a strange experience, they almost were offering it back to us. They kept nosing the head back to the surface after they devoured the whole body.”

Watch: False killer whales share ‘sashimi’ during rare encounter

Whale watchers on an all-day private charter Sunday out of Newport Beach enjoyed a rare sighting of false killer whales as they feasted on tuna.

Whale watchers on an all-day charter Sunday out of Newport Beach enjoyed a rare sighting of false killer whales as the mammals feasted on tuna.

The accompanying footage, captured by Ryan Lawler of Pacific Offshore Expeditions, shows several false killer whales passing a freshly caught bluefin tuna among themselves in a prey-sharing behavior.

“A family of false killer whales shares a meal of sashimi,” reads part of the Facebook description.

The encounter occurred 60 miles offshore, near San Clemente Island, after nearly three hours spent on what seemed a deserted ocean.

“Then we saw shapes and birds on the horizon,” Lawler told FTW Outdoors. “When we first saw them they were spread out, and we were not expecting this.”

A bonanza for crew and four passengers: perhaps 75 false killer whales foraging in a bluefin tuna school, with black-footed albatrosses competing for scraps.

The false killer whales were spread out in subgroups of six to 12 animals, such as the subgroup featured in Lawler’s footage.

False killer whales, which are dark gray and do not bear a strong resemblance to killer whales, are found in tropical and subtropical waters and rarely encountered off California.

However, sightings have increased in recent years, perhaps because of unusually warm ocean temperatures during summer months.

Like many dolphin species, false killer whales are highly social and develop strong bonds within their subgroups.

Prey sharing is common and fish and squid are chief prey items. Though catching tuna might seem a difficult task, false killer whales are powerful swimmers and are known to capture prey as deep as 1,600 feet.

“We also had a small pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins in the area mixing with the false killer whales, and it was really cool,” Lawler remarked. “We were with them for at least three hours and everyone onboard had never seen this species before.

“It was my probably my 10th time seeing this species since 2016. But it was my first time seeing them eat tuna.”

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Spectacular false killer whale attack documented by researchers

Researchers in Hawaii have captured footage of a false killer whale ambushing an unsuspecting mahi-mahi with a spectacular breach.

Researchers in Hawaii have captured footage showing a false killer whale ambushing a large mahi-mahi with a spectacular breach.

“One of many predation events documented by our team while working with the endangered population of false killer whales in the Maui Nui area!” Cascadia Research Collective wrote Friday on Facebook, asking viewers to turn on the volume.

The footage, reminiscent of clips showing great white sharks breaching after seals or seal decoys, shows the false killer whale smacking the mahi-mahi into the air while also leaping free of the surface.

False killer whales (Pseudorca) – named because their skull characteristics are similar to those of killer whales (Orcinus orca) – inhabit tropical and sub-tropical waters worldwide but are not frequently encountered.

In Hawaii, three populations exist, including a small endangered population most closely associated with the main islands.

The Washington State-based Cascadia Research Collective, in collaboration with the Scripps Acoustic Ecology Laboratory and Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, is studying foraging behavior of this population, in relation to oceanography and prey.

False killer whales routinely snack on mahi-mahi, which like to gather beneath floating debris, making them vulnerable to predation. (Note the floating object in the video.)

Asked if the footage captured Friday is rare, Robin Baird, a Cascadia Research Biologist, told For The Win Outdoors:

“Well, we’ve been working with false killer whales in Hawaii for 22 years and have seen this type of behavior a number of times, and filmed it a few times, although not necessarily long clips or great footage.”

Baird added that false killer whales “do throw fish into the air more so than any other species I’ve worked with.”

During some predation events, individual mammals shared food with other pod members. Prey sharing is common among false killer whales, which have also been known to present their kills to people watching from boats.

Cascadia on Friday published an update for the ongoing Maui Nui project in waters off Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai.

The endangered false killer whales are the team’s “highest-priority species” and scientists captured several images showing the mammals preying on mahi-mahi and engaging in social behavior.

Based on their observations, the most common methods are ramming the fish with their heads or slapping them with tail flukes.

Scientists obtained several photo identifications for their catalog and collected biopsy samples “for genetics and hormone chemistry.”

The team also encountered or was hoping to encounter bottlenose dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, and less-common species such as rough-toothed dolphins and pygmy killer whales.

–Images courtesy of Jordan Lerma (top and bottom two) and Robin Baird of the Cascadia Research Collective