An Australian whale-watching crew witnessed a fight between orcas and sperm whales and caught it on video during an expedition this week.
In the video shared by Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching, you can see the whales swimming and thrashing in the water. However, at times, it’s difficult to tell what’s going on, but the crew also described what happened in a Facebook post.
They explained that the fight spanned 6.2 nautical miles on March 24 near Bremer Canyon, Australia. Although it’s not uncommon for orcas to hunt sperm whales, the crew said they believed the confrontation was over food as the animals were migrating through the area.
During a confrontation, they said sperm whales will usually use their immense size and power to scare away would-be assailants, but instead, huddled together in a tight defensive formation. Then, the orcas left without preying on them.
Looking at the evidence left behind, the crew believed the orcas stole food from the sperm whales — possibly a giant or colossal squid. They also found whale poop, which they say sperm whales tend to release their bowels as a defense mechanism to ward off predators.