sbyrne (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sbyrne) wrote,@ 2007-12-17 21:13:00 |
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Unique orca hunting technique documented
"Some Antarctic orcas use the cunning tactic of regularly hunting in packs and making waves to wash seals off floating ice, researchers have confirmed.
The behaviour was first seen in 1979, but at the time it was considered a one-time moment of orca ingenuity. Now, Ingrid Visser of the Orca Research Trust in New Zealand and her colleagues report on six further observations of the animals using group hunting behaviour to divide ice floes, push them into open water, and create waves to wash animals off them into their waiting jaws. The behaviour has been seen only along the Antarctic Peninsula and nowhere else in the world, they note, including other icy orca habitats in the Arctic and Antarctic. The report is published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, and a recent video of the behaviour is available on YouTube (with the key moment happening 2 minutes 40 seconds into the tape)."
And in case you haven't yet seen Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise, it's here.
"Some Antarctic orcas use the cunning tactic of regularly hunting in packs and making waves to wash seals off floating ice, researchers have confirmed.
The behaviour was first seen in 1979, but at the time it was considered a one-time moment of orca ingenuity. Now, Ingrid Visser of the Orca Research Trust in New Zealand and her colleagues report on six further observations of the animals using group hunting behaviour to divide ice floes, push them into open water, and create waves to wash animals off them into their waiting jaws. The behaviour has been seen only along the Antarctic Peninsula and nowhere else in the world, they note, including other icy orca habitats in the Arctic and Antarctic. The report is published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, and a recent video of the behaviour is available on YouTube (with the key moment happening 2 minutes 40 seconds into the tape)."
And in case you haven't yet seen Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise, it's here.
