A wily whale at MarineLand in Ontario, Canada has developed a taste for seagull and has been teaching the other orcas in his tank how to nab the airborne snacks.
According to animal behaviorist Michael Noonan,
“The orca lures gulls into his tank by spitting
regurgitated fish into the water. He waits for a bird to grab the fish
and then lunges."
The other killer whales in the tank have begun to follow suit, offering
scientists an opportunity to see how animals learn from one another.
" They catch three or four gulls this way some days.", says Noonan.
Hey, I love seafood, but anyone would get tired of the same old thing every day. This also gives the whales a little leverage in negotiating with their trainers ("Now that we’ve got some freelance work, there are going to be a few changes around here. No more double back flips for a lousy herring…").
clever planning! I had no idea orcas could plan that far ahead, much less make themselves regurgitate. (eeeeewww)
Very funny to picture!
I’ve always wondered what is going on in their Orca brain that says don’t eat the trainers?
If you ever watch the BBC series “Blue Planet” available on a 4 DVD set, you will see that orcas (killer whales) are anything but cute and fuzzy.
One segment has them relentlessly hunting a mother whale trying to migrate with her calf. They hassle them for hours, and eventually the calf is exhausted. The orcas come in for the kill and eat only the lower jaw, leaving the rest of the calf’s body to float down to the bottom.
In another segment, the orcas are hunting young seals in the surf. The orcas stay out just far enough, then lunge in to catch the young seals in the shallow surf. Once they have caught one, they “play” with it for a couple of hours in deeper water, tossing in between themselves. They don’t eat it, they just torture it, and eventually kill it.
Orcas are very smart, and, I think, a bit sadistic. Not at all the “cute” image of Shamu or Willy. They are called “killer whales” for a reason.
Hmmm…I think you would have to have a soul to be sadistic.