**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.
View this post on Instagram
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.”