Watch a Killer Whale Beach Itself To Catch a Seal Dinner
Seals playing on the beach beware, there are killer whales in the water! In the below clip, we see the lightning-fast speed that orcas use when hunting. Everything begins innocently enough, with a seal paddling about in the waves. Then, a massive killer whale surges out of the depths like a torpedo and fiercely chomps down on the tiny seal. Much to the seal’s horror, the whale then bops its prey up and down a few times for good measure. Finally, as quickly as he arrived, the whale hops on back into the ocean and heads on his way.
Surprisingly, the killer whale is the only known species of whale that intentionally beaches itself. Due to their highly intelligent yet tenacious nature, they go to extremes like this while on the hunt. And of course, orca ingenuity gives them the impressive skills to get out of the situations they put themselves in.
With that in mind, let’s find out more about these warriors of the ocean and some of their lesser-known facets.
Are Killer Whales Unable to Smell?
©Nick Grobler/Shutterstock.com
Although the killer whale has honed skills for survival, they surprisingly don’t appear to make use of the sense of smell. Both the organs responsible for detecting odors and the brain region for parsing the related info are absent. This oddity is actually shared amongst all toothed whales and is thought to be due to the amount of time they spend underwater.
Instead of using their sniffers, these giants prefer to use echolocation, an adaptation that instead relies on the auditory system. Basically, killer whales have an advanced sensory system that can make use of sonar signals. That means they send out a sound wave and then process the reflected echoes in order to better visualize their environment. With this, they can hunt like pros and determine many things about their current target!
Do Killer Whales Ever Sleep?
Believe it or not, sleeping underwater is not an easy feat! That said, mammals that spend their days underwater need to change things up in order to rest up. In fact, killer whales use a fairly bizarre strategy that involves sleeping “halfway.” You see, they float along the water’s surface in order to breathe, and half of their brain goes to sleep. In addition, one eye is closed, while the other remains open. This process has to be done for both sides to feel fully rested. It sure doesn’t sound comfortable, but there isn’t such a thing as an orca-sized bed yet, unfortunately!
