A seal hid from killer whales inside a glacier: Ukrainian polar explorers filmed an incredible video of the rescue
During their research in the ocean, Ukrainian polar explorers from the Akademik Vernadsky Research Station witnessed an interesting adventure. A pod of killer whales was hunting a krill seal, and the seal hid from them in a crack in an iceberg.
There were five killer whales in total - three adults and two kids. However, the seal won the hide-and-seek game, the researchers wrote on the National Antarctic Science Center's Facebook page.
Realizing that the seal was in a safe ice hiding place, the disappointed killer whales swam away to look for more accessible prey.
Source: Screenshot from the video by Oleksandr Matsibura
"We were near the continent when we saw a large straight dorsal fin. We drove the boat closer and heard the sound of killer whales communicating. Their flock was actively swimming around the iceberg," said Oleksandr Matsibura, the boat's driver and sysadmin of the 29th UAE, in a post.
At first, the polar explorers did not understand why the killer whales were circling the ice floe. "And then they raised the drone and saw that there was a seal inside the glacier," the researcher explained.
A seal cunningly hid in an ice floe.
Source: Screenshot from the video by Oleksandr Matsibura
According to scientists, the killer whales swam away from the iceberg several times and waited for their potential prey. But as soon as the krill crawled out of the crack, the pack quickly reappeared, and the seal returned to its hiding place. Such "maneuvers" lasted about an hour, the scientists noted.
"In the end, the killer whales gave up trying to get their prey and swam away. This was the happy ending for the killer whale. He was really lucky, because previous expeditions have shown that killer whales need only a few minutes to catch an adult seal," the Vernadsky scientists noted.
After an hour of unsuccessful waiting, the killer whales swam away to look for other prey.
Source: Screenshot from video by Oleksandr Matsibura
We remind you that Ukrainian scientists in the Antarctic have been comprehensively studying cetaceans, in particular killer whales, for several years.
Last year, biologists managed to collect skin and fat samples from three different individuals for the first time as part of Ukrainian Antarctic research. "Laboratory analysis of these and other samples will allow us to learn more about the population structure and demography of Antarctic killer whales," the experts emphasize.
Three of the five ecotypes of killer whales are found in the Vernadsky area.
Source: facebook.com/@AntarcticCenter
Ukrainian scientists are conducting acoustic studies of killer whales in different parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. "Important information has already been accumulated on the seasonal distribution and various aspects of the ecology of these animals, which are top-level predators and therefore important indicators of the state of Antarctic ecosystems," the polar explorers added.
In general, three of the five ecotypes of killer whales that live in the Southern Ocean occur in the Vernadsky area:
▪️ type A, which usually feed on other cetaceans, primarily Antarctic minke whales;
▪️ type B1, which feed mainly on pinnipeds;
▪️ type B2, which prefer to feed on penguins.
"Each family of killer whales has close social ties, as well as its own hunting traditions that are passed down from generation to generation," Ukrainian scientists noted.
Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Subscribe
Subscribe
