When there’s a pod of orcas involved in a chase, it’s usually pretty safe to assume that it’s the orcas that are doing the chasing. Not this time, though. Pacific Offshore Expeditions recently shared a video showing orcas being chased by humpback whales. What makes it perhaps even more interesting is that the orcas were hunting when the humpback began to chase them off.
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“You have to see it to believe it . . . but yesterday we had pods of Humpbacks chasing a pod of Killer Whales!!” wrote Pacific Offshore Expeditions in an Instagram post sharing the video. “The orcas were hunting sea lions within a mile of several Humpbacks. When the whales realized what was going on, they grouped up and charged the Orcas!”
The company notes that humans have documented this behavior before, but that it’s still rare to witness. It’s also interesting to note that the group observed this behavior twice with two different groups of humpback whales.
“[It’s] an amazing display of either instinct or emotion for Humpbacks to attempt to interfere with Killer Whales killing,” the post reads. “We saw this happen twice yesterday about 2 hours apart on separate sea lion attacks with [separate] groups of Humpbacks.”
Watch humpback whales chase off some orcas here:
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