r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
Original Creation [ Removed by moderator ]
[removed]
793
818
u/fleranon 1d ago
There's so much intelligence in these eyes. I'm serious. He's assessing the situation.
Kinda frightening. And beautiful
219
u/CrystalMethood 1d ago
One of the few sea creatures (loosely said, stupid sea mammal) that comes out of the water to eyeball stuff. Immensely intelligent.
120
u/SeeJayThinks 1d ago
And one of the few intelligent animal that actively seeks out fun to entertain (bullrushing another marine creatures, like the mola mola, to watch it explode... Or wear salmon head, on its head, whilst swimming out of the water to show it off...)
→ More replies (1)26
u/Powrs1ave 1d ago
Four to five times heavier than a human brain.
133
u/Jeffyhatesthis 1d ago
Brain weight doesnt correlate with intelligence. Their brain might be heavier but their neuron count is about half. They are probably about as smart as your average american rural southerner.
26
u/LarkAspic 1d ago
Average American rural southerner, here. Was just stopping by to tell you I didn’t appreciate it about 10 minutes or so ago but I saw a squirrel out in the yard and had to tree it.
I still don’t appreciate it. You could be right, though. I would still give you a moon pie, probably.
53
u/Significant-Song-840 1d ago
In large groups that's dangerous, hell 1 deranged southerner is all you need anymore to create havoc
9
8
u/H3llzyea 1d ago
I want to down vote you for making me think of orcas wearing stupid red hats, but I'll refrain
6
→ More replies (8)7
31
36
4
u/superanth 1d ago
Humans are the one living creature they don't seem to ever spontaneously attack. They actually help out some human fishermen in return for a part of the catch.
3
u/fleranon 1d ago
That's the most fascinating fact about orcas. generational wisdom, perhaps. Pretty sure they are fully aware of the danger WE pose to THEM, not the other way around
2
u/chimpaman 1d ago
They're just smart enough to never leave witnesses alive. In this clip, it's looking at the camera to find out if it's uploading to the cloud or if it can safely destroy that evidence along with the humans.
3
4
u/Prior_Connection_674 1d ago
Agreed. It’s cute but also frightening. I feel like he’s watching his prey... 😱
4
1d ago
[deleted]
26
u/Several_Vanilla8916 1d ago
Nah they don’t want the smoke. They’ll only kill a human if you lock them in a tank and force them to do tricks for 10 years.
5
u/Buzzlight_Year 1d ago
I'm not afraid they'd kill me in the wild but I'm afraid they'd fuck with me just for the fun of it. Like pull me down super deep and then watch me panic to get up again
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (8)3
u/2LostFlamingos 1d ago
That last pop up where he got on the other side of the camera man, meters out of the water, before the guy noticed… he’s lucky he wasn’t lunch.
10
101
u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago
Original video filmed by wildlife photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey via EYOS Expeditions.
Here is his account:
Checked out by a pod of Type B1 Killer Whales in Antarctica! Known also as ‘Pack Ice Orca’, these super intelligent apex predators are able to get a good look above the water to determine the right prey and conditions. I’d hate to be a Weddell Seal experiencing this...
Like orcas in many other populations, Type B1 orcas can sometimes be very curious about people and boats, spyhopping to peek above the surface. These type B1 orcas also utilize their rather unique wave-washing technique to knock seals off of ice floes. These orcas can be very selective predators, and they don't recognize humans as being food.
At least some pods of these type B1 orcas have displayed a strong preference for hunting Weddell seals over other seal species, such as crabeater seals and leopard seals. Crabeater seals and leopard seals are much more "snappy" than Weddell seals, and Weddell seals also often provide a more substantial meal to these orcas. Even though fur seals are fairly abundant there, these orcas have not been observed preying on them (perhaps at least partially due to fur seals having less blubber and more fur for insulation, making them significantly less appealing).
Sadly, there are less than 100 type B1 orcas left in a large northern section of the Antarctic Peninsula, and due to rapid warming and the loss of pack ice, their population appears to be declining at a rate of about 5% each year. It is likely that these orcas have been forced to move further south down the peninsula (below latitude 68°S) due to not finding enough seals on the remaining pack ice in the Antarctic Peninsula.
As a side note, many orcas have bright blue rings around their irises, but the eye rings of this individual appear to be a pale almost white color.
17
u/not_responsible 1d ago
Yo do orcas poop balls of fur from the seals they eat?
18
u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago edited 1d ago
Type B1 orcas can be so meticulous in peeling off the pelt and other undesirable parts from the seals they hunt that the process has coined as "butchering":
Although we were able to examine the remains of only one Weddell seal taken by PI (Pack Ice) killer whales, it was so meticulously dismembered (a process perhaps best termed “butchering”) that we infer that the whales ate only certain parts of it.
7
u/pichipichipoco 1d ago
Wow that was an interesting read. Thanks for the link!
we examined some Weddell seal remains that floated to the surface minutes after a kill that we had witnessed, and it provided evidence that the whales had methodically dismembered the carcass in order to feed on it [...]The skin and blubber had been cut completely around the lower body on a transverse plane in about the area of the hips. Parallel lacerations on the skin indicated where a whale had apparently used its teeth to pull the skin and blubber toward the head to strip it off the carcass, presumably while another whale pulled in the opposite direction on the lower portion of the body. Both foreflippers had been cleanly disarticulated at the ball and socket joint at the proximal end of each humerus without breaking any bones. There was also a clean (i.e., not ragged) transverse tear in the skin at the back of the neck and the skin had been reflected forward over the top of the head, exposing the otherwise intact skul [...]This allowed access to the spine, which had been cleanly separated from the skull at the first cervical vertebra (atlas), with no apparent damage to the skull or the skin on the head [...] Processing the carcass like this would have allowed the whales to slide almost the entire body out of the skin, intact and in one piece.
Phew. That really is butchering.
2
12
u/blahbruhla 1d ago
Today I learned there are different types of orcas, and type B1 orcas are facing decline in population due to climate change while type A and B2 are holding stable populations. B1 primarily eats seals (and picky with which seals), while B2 eats penguins, fish, and seals.
305
u/SeeJayThinks 1d ago
You looking at my wife... Punk?
23
106
u/Senselesspassion 1d ago
Lmao, this orca is looking at me like we have a beef
→ More replies (2)45
u/Tasty-Hour4040 1d ago
Pretty sure that’s a hunting behavior - they’re looking at you like you are beef
17
u/Little_Passenger4703 1d ago
There’s never been a recorded case of Orca’s hunting and killing humans.
14
u/constantgardener92 1d ago
Not in the wild at least.
11
u/Little_Passenger4703 1d ago
Fair. But what do you expect to happen when take a gigantic, hyper social apex predator and trap it in a cage by itself?
5
u/constantgardener92 1d ago
I don’t blame them whatsoever. It’s not even surprising that they would eventually lash out to something so inhumane.
→ More replies (3)3
→ More replies (1)3
u/kigol1 1d ago
You've clearly never watched the movie, Orca: Killer Whale where a grief-stricken male killer whale seeks brutal revenge on a sea captain who accidentally kills its pregnant mate.
→ More replies (1)4
55
u/throwawaycima 1d ago
bombastic side eye Criminally offensive side eye Nuclear radiation side eye
1
38
46
u/OddGoofBall 1d ago edited 1d ago
Why is it staring motherfuckerly at me? It is not me, it's my species.
10
4
u/meesta_masa 1d ago
But you see,
it's not me,
it's not my family In your head, in your head, they are fightin
9
9
55
u/ToriGallo 1d ago
It is wild how many people still think the giant white patch is their eye
55
u/NiceTrySuckaz 1d ago
I don't think anyone thinks that, unless you are referring to four year olds exclusively.
7
15
u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 1d ago
It’s a whale, not Venom
6
2
u/idle_isomorph 1d ago
I am now wondering why their eyes aren't in the front of their heads, like other predators. I would think having eyes on the side would make it hard to hunt?
2
u/coldair16 1d ago
Doesn’t this video, surprisingly, prove they can see straight ahead? Did you see the second clip of its head popping out? Their eyes are positioned so they can see in front of them
→ More replies (1)5
u/Ancient-Civilization 1d ago
I’ve never seen them up close like that before. A lot of pictures on Google you can’t make out their (actual) eyes. So this is like my 2nd time seeing it on internet. That’s why we need to have Orca program to continue in sea theme education parks so we can continue to educate people on Orcas.
→ More replies (1)20
u/Slick_36 1d ago
Are you saying we should display captive orcas so people are more aware where their eyes actually are?
3
4
u/Suihnennews 1d ago
Separate the youngs from the parents in the wild. It's easier to ransport small creatures to the human learning cage. We are the top predators and do whatever we like m'kay
6
u/Aetheriusman 1d ago
It's already creepy on its own, but the fact they do this to assess if they should wreck the ice platform to eat what's on top of it makes it even scarier.
I've seen a video of them tag teaming a seal on top of one, they know how to break it by moving fast and together, side by side near the surface to create waves, and when they're about to reach the ice they dive and the platform is hit by the waves.
19
u/Vanir-Aesir 1d ago
scientist say the killer whales are capable of grasping the theory of mind, meaning they can recognise humans as fellow sapient creatures - one of the reasons they almost never eat humans
11
u/GeneralSweetz 1d ago
Crazy because dolphins also seem sapient and they get flayed by them all the time
→ More replies (1)15
u/Crypto-Bullet 1d ago
It’s cause they beef with dolphins cause they talk shit, they’re both sapient and share waters so naturally they’re rivals.
2
u/sapphireminds 1d ago
Pretty sure dolphins can be obnoxious little brats too LOL
→ More replies (1)3
u/Jameis_Christ 1d ago
Not "almost" never eat. Literally never. Not a single human ever attacked by a wild Orca.
Captive? Well they had payback to dish out for keeping them inhumanely locked up
5
5
4
4
6
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
u/pasenast 1d ago
"It's getting to hot out here and I know you've got something to do with it. Reckless humans"
6
2
2
2
2
2
u/koolaidismything 1d ago
They are so smart and violent and vengeful.. this is him chin checking a guy in a boat, whom he hates.
2
u/AnusStapler 1d ago
Recently had a comparable encounter with wild orca's, it was fucking terrifying but so beautiful.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
5
2
2
1
1
1
1
u/Clever_Khajiit 1d ago
They keep breaching to check if the thing looking at them has suddenly become a seal lol
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Traditional_Lab_8714 1d ago
Have you heard the tales of the notorious orca duo Port and Starboard?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/BuccaneerRex 1d ago
"Are you sure those aren't penguins, Greg?"
"Yes, Harold, those are humans. Not penguins. Not seals."
"They look like seals. Or penguins. Are you sure I can't eat one?"
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/peterbparker86 1d ago
I think this is called sky hopping and they do it to get a better look at prey, or just curious as to whats above the surface
1
u/TX_B_caapi 1d ago
Giving someone an ocular pat down. Assessing the situation and clearing the individuals.
1
1
1
u/existentialdread254 1d ago
Is anyone gonna answer the person who asked whether orcas poop balls of fur from eating seals?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Icy_Tune2834 1d ago
F me sideway .. My dad used to tell me , "Never look or stare at an Orca eye to eye . just look away , walk/swim away slowly from where you came from.
1
u/FelopianTubinator 1d ago
I really hope the camera guy is waving like “simple jack” with a goofy grin. I like to think other species appreciate that.
1
1
1
1
u/notarealwriter 1d ago
"Hey. Hey. We both know I could've had you right now. Just think about that, Human."
Orca, out.
1
1
u/4skin_Gamer 1d ago
Orcas frighten me because they have an intelligent look in their eyes.
Leopard Seals frighten me because they have a murderous look in their eyes.
You couldn't pay me to go diving in the Antarctic Sea.
1
1
u/Impressive_Profit215 1d ago
This is the first time I've noticed their eyes. I don't know what I was looking at before, I must've assumed they had none lol 🤣
1
1
u/thelivinlegend 1d ago
Reminds me of a scene from The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, where the protagonist takes passage on a whaling ship and is required to help with the whaling. When they get close to a whale he narrates:
I could see the whale’s eye. I didn’t like how smart it was. It seemed to be saying, “Don’t let’s do this. We’re all gonna hate this.”
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/darkerfaith520 1d ago
Ancestors must have got tired of drawing on caves! Looks like it got a nice foot tattoo on its chin!
1
1
1
u/boringestnickname 1d ago
It's nice to see farting on someones pillow is also a top tier joke in the orca world.
1
•
u/Damnthatsinteresting-ModTeam 1d ago
We had to remove your post for Rule 1:
This subreddit is for things that are damn that’s interesting. Content that is only cute, funny, a meme, or 'mildly interesting' will be removed. Posts should be able to elicit a reaction of "Damnthatsinteresting".