{"id":46235,"date":"2025-08-05T21:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T21:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/46235\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T21:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T21:25:07","slug":"orcas-pretend-to-drown-each-other-in-rare-training-session-caught-on-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/46235\/","title":{"rendered":"Orcas Pretend to Drown Each Other in Rare Training Session Caught on Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orcas are called \u201ckiller<\/a> whales\u201d (even though they\u2019re technically dolphins) for good reason. They\u2019re the ocean\u2019s top predators, hunting down everything from great white sharks to blue whales\u2014the largest animal in the world. But orcas aren\u2019t born killers. It\u2019s a skill they learn from their elders and, as new evidence suggests, practice on each other.<\/p>\n

Parenthood, a new five-part BBC wildlife series narrated by David Attenborough, includes the first known footage of orcas learning how to drown their prey, as first reported by The Times<\/a>. The training session is led by a matriarch and consists of one orca pretending to be the prey so the others can surround it and practice pushing its blowhole under the water.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecialised underwater gimbals and tow cameras were used to bring cameras alongside hunting orcas underwater. This technology allowed the crew to travel at the same speed as the orca hunting pack and provided new insights into their behaviour,\u201d a BBC spokeswoman told The Times. \u201cThe practice-hunting behaviour appears to show members of an orca family submerging the head of one individual to prevent it from breathing\u2014the technique used by killer whales to hunt large whales. This practice-hunting behaviour has never been filmed before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The footage was captured near Western Australia\u2019s Bremer Bay, the same region where, in April, horrified tourists watched 60 orcas devour an endangered blue whale<\/a>. After the practice session, the series shows the orcas using their skills while hunting a blue whale caught by surprise. Blue whales can hold their breath<\/a> for somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Orcas training their young how to hunt is just one of many parenting moments featured in the wildlife series, which was filmed<\/a> over three years in six continents and 23 countries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s got all the feels\u2014it\u2019s got great behaviour, it\u2019s got great emotion, it\u2019s got great humour, it\u2019s got relatable parental dilemmas. And it has a nod and a wink towards \u2018helicopter parenting\u2019 and \u2018snowplow \u2018parenting\u2019\u2014all those different terms that we bandy about as to what type of parent you are,\u201d Jeff Wilson, the director, told the BBC<\/a>. The series footage required \u201can observational, non-invasive\u201d approach, he added. \u201cWe\u2019re very proud of what we\u2019ve put on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show aired on BBC One on August 3 and is available on BBC iPlayer. We don\u2019t know yet when the U.S. release will take place, but I\u2019m sure those of you in the States can\u2019t wait. After all, who wouldn\u2019t want to hear Attenborough\u2019s mesmerizing voice declare<\/a>, \u201cSuccess for all parents has perhaps the greatest of consequences. It ensures the future of life on our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orcas are called \u201ckiller whales\u201d (even though they\u2019re technically dolphins) for good reason. They\u2019re the ocean\u2019s top predators,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,6344,39854,128,338],"class_list":["post-46235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-marine-life","tag-orcas","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}