Why does the killer whale play violently with baby seals before it kills them? Seen on "blue planet" bbc.

Question

Is it a role play? Why do it only to baby seals? It looked very cruel and sadistic on tv. They kept throwing them up in the air and hit them with their tail over again. Baby seals can't escape anyway cause the killer whale is many times its size and a natural born killer. Do whales have a twisted mind?

Answer 1

I think Killer Whales are evil cu***!!! I saw the same programme where they played with some other whale until it died of exhaustion, the baby whale's mother died and i think they prob killed the baby whale too.

It would be okay if they ate them but no, evil evil killer whales just bugger off and leave them dead.

Answer 2

The Killer Whale, Orcinus orca, is regarded as the world's most efficient predator & is in fact, the most fearsome killer in the sea. They will eat virtuakky anything they can catch. Only for some reason, human beings always seem to be off the menu. Like alot of animals, they are specialist hunters, living exclusively in large groups called Pods. Like a pack of Wolves, the Killer Whale is an incredibly efficient hunter. At times, Wolf packs will come together to form very large packs. Whereas, Killer Whale pods will at times, join together to form what are called super-pods. The only human death, which seems to have been recorded, is one apparantly, caused at Seaworld, in Orlando, Florida. The whale's trainer jumped into the water with the animal & was mistaken for a toy. The whale held him against the bottom of the pool until he'd drowned. That's what they claim anyhow. The whale could've deliberately killed him. Furthermore, a group of Killer Whales were shown on a whildlife documentary, back in the late 1990's. They were chasing a fully grown Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus & prgressively, they attacked the giant creature, & after all taking a bite, they tore a huge open wound along the whale's left flank. They then swam on, leaving the Blue Whale to bleed to death. There is also a technique, which Killer Whales use for hunting in the Polar & Arctic regions. When hunting seals on the coast, they deliberately beach themselves, but to get back into the water is another matter. The method used, is one in which they arch their backs, & using their muscles, they jerk themselves back into the water. Also, when hunting among the ice floes, they use a kind of 'search & destroy' method. The whale will float in an upright position, hold it's head above the water for several seconds & when a sela is sighted, the predator itself, will either send water onto the ice floe, which will send the seal sliding off into the water, otherwise, it'll jump onto one end of the floe, sending the seal into the air, & landing in the whale's jaws. Killer Whales are extremely dangerous animals. But at the same time, they only hunt what they're adapted for hunting. Unlike Homo sapiens, a.k.a. Human beings, the Killer Whale never bites off more than it can really chew. In fact, if you go back about 40 million years, you would find a giant whale, which could measure more than 70 feet in length, & was regarded itself, as a Whale Killer. Basilosaurus was a prehistoric whale, & at the time also, possibly the world's largest carnivore & predator. The remains of this giant hunter are found in the Sahara desert in Egypt. Back then, a vast ocean called the Tethys, covered the area that is now just desert. Fossil evidence suggests that Basilosaurus would feed on the calves of a smaller whale called Dorudon. The giant may also be a possible direct relative of the Killer Whale too.

Answer 3

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RE:
Why does the killer whale play violently with baby seals before it kills them? Seen on "blue planet" bbc.
Is it a role play? Why do it only to baby seals? It looked very cruel and sadistic on tv. They kept throwing them up in the air and hit them with their tail over again. Baby seals can't escape anyway cause the killer whale is many times its size and a natural born killer. Do whales have a...

Answer 4

I just watched that episode of The Blue Planet (Episode 8:Coasts), and they tossed and hit the seal with their tails for half an hour and then when it was dead, they continued doing it without eating it. The more documentaries I watch featuring killer whales, the more I believe that they are extremely intelligent but also evil creatures. One of the earlier episodes of Blue Planet, a pod of them were chasing down a mother and baby whales, and they kept trying to drown the baby whale by lying on top of it so it couldn't go up for air. They did this while the mother whale was trying to fend them off, but eventually the baby was too exhausted and just gave up. The killer whales then ate the calf's tongue and lower jaw and left eh rest of the body there with it's mother. Have also seen two humpback whales trying to defend two grey whales from a similar incident without success. Seriously, evil mofo's..

Answer 5

Baby Seals Playing

Answer 6

Have you ever seen a cat play with a mouse? The seal is the killer whale's "mouse". They also teach there offspring to hunt like this, and in other films I have seen, after playing toss with the seal they took it back to shore and let it go. Its hard to say what these whales are thinking !

Answer 7

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The name killer whale does not mean that they are whales that kill. Killer whales are in fact the biggest species of dolphin!! It refers to the fact that they are killers of whales. They hunt right whales among others. There are a great many wildlife documentaries that you can see this in, the best of which are BBC documentaries. I think its on Planet Earth for one.

Answer 8

Whether we know it or not, the killer whale probably believes that if it didn't kill the pup first, it might escape. I would also think that, since they swallow their food whole, it would make it easier to swallow the pup if it wasn't moving around trying to escape. It would probably get stuck in the whale's throat trying to climb its way back up, essentially choking the whale, where as a dead pup will just slide on down.

Answer 9

My guess is that it is practice/training in their hunting capture skills. It seems cruel but in practicing with baby seals who don't have much developed escape skills, prepares them for assurance of successfull adult seal kills.
It seems appears similar to that of cats that don't kill their prey right out. Especially domesticated ones that are regularly fed and don't HAVE to kill for food.
I have four dogs, 2 Jack Russels and a Chow. They have caught possums, rabbits, birds and cats. All three of the dogs go thru the same ritual of repeatedly throwing them up in the air and letting them hit the ground.
Then after they don't move the dogs will sit over and watch them and from time to time hit/push them with their paws. It seems that when they are satisfied that they are dead they just walk away and leave them alone.
If any of the others that have not taken part with the kill sees them on the ground they will smell them and touch them for a reaction. If none they will ignore them.

Answer 10

Orcas use complex hunting strategies to find and subdue their prey. They will occasionally throw seals through the air in order to stun and kill them. Often, to avoid injury, they will disable their prey before killing and eating it. This may involve throwing it in the air, slapping it with their tails, ramming it, or breaching and landing on it.

More than likely, they use this technique on prey regardless of whether it is a juvenile or an adult. It's possible that the only videos you have seen show them attacking the baby seals, rather than the adult ones, who are fully capable of inflicting injuries on the whales.