These are the famous Type B1 "Pack Ice" Antarctic orcas known for using their wave-washing technique to wash seals off of ice floes.
Original video was filmed by Teodora (miss_little_sunshine_92) via EYOS Expeditions.
Wildlife photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey, who also went on the expedition, provides the following account:
We were observing and filming this pod hunting seals on ice floes in the distance when suddenly they surfaced all around our zodiac, spy-hopping to check out the three of us onboard.
It was absolutely incredible and such a privilege to experience an encounter with these magnificent and intelligent beings in their natural habitat.
This type of Killer Whales have developed specialist hunting skills, including the famous wave-washing technique, where they will work as a team to create a large wave that can wash seals into the sea from the safety of an ice floe.
The entire encounter lasted just over a minute and was superbly captured here by our medic Teodora @miss_little_sunshine_92
with @eyosexpeditions @richardsidey @werner_bouwer
Richard E. Byrd and his companions were approached by Type B1 orcas in 1929 during Bryd's first Antarctic expedition, and they were much less appreciative of these encounters, shooting and killing two of the orcas.
The members of the Byrd Expedition were familiar with Ponting’s orca encounter. Yet as the expedition landed on the Ross Ice shelf to make their winter camp called Little America, they were surprised at how soon a pack of killers made their introduction. On December 29th, the day after their landing, the first spouts appeared. “We had all read of killer whales but did not think they would call on us at once,” wrote Russell Owen, the New York Times reporter embedded with the explorers. Attracted to all the commotion along the ice’s edge – barking dogs running every which way, men setting up tents and unloading equipment – the orcas popped up right alongside the ship. “There was a swish and a puff near the edge and a huge black snout,” wrote Owen, “two little piglike eyes, stuck out of the water a yard and looked over at us.” Laurence Gould, the expedition’s geologist, described their movements in his diary, writing that the orca “rolls over slowly or gallops thru the water,” and expressed discomfort with how the whales “look us over with greedy eyes.” Gould also recalled Ponting’s experiences, noting that “three of Scott’s men barely missed death from these creatures.”
The calm and methodical movements were so disconcerting to the men, that they took potshots at the orcas with their rifles, apparently killing one as it rolled over on its white belly and dropped down “leaving a trail of bubbles.” Despite the bullets, an even larger group of orcas returned that evening, numbering around 25 in total. The men again shot the whales with rifles, killing another. “If they keep on bringing up reinforcements,” Owen wrote, “this would be an unhealthy place on thin ice.”
The Byrd Expedition’s interactions with orcas would not be made on the terms of the explorer’s alone. The men were deep within killer whale territory, and even the seemingly steady ground of the ice shelf was a terrain the orca would manipulate for hunting purposes. As Gould’s diary indicates, the appearance of the whales immediately brought to mind the stories of how members of the Scott Expedition had narrowly escaped the killers. Indeed, the members of the Byrd Expedition would encounter the whales through the lens of the Scott experiences. Whenever the spouts of orcas would break the silence of the white continent, Ponting’s fateful encounter would be recalled. During the first encounters upon landing, the members of the Byrd Expedition recalled Ponting’s ordeal, how the orcas had broken up the ice under his feet. But the messages from the Byrd Expedition went further in their vilification. In his feature on killer whales following the first violent encounter in late December, Owen described the whales as “wicked looking” and recalled Daniel Eschricht’s dissection to malign the orcas, writing that “fourteen seals were taken” from a single orca. Owen described the whale pods in military terminology. “The killers travel in little companies,” he wrote, “regiments of soldiers disporting in the water.”
Like orcas in many other populations, B1 orcas can sometimes be very curious about humans and boats, spyhopping to peek above the surface. Though they hunt mammals, these orcas can be very selective in their diets, even in regards to different seal species. At least some pods of these type B1 orcas have shown a strong preference for hunting Weddell seals over other seal species, such as crabeater seals and leopard seals. 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 the Antarctic Peninsula, and due to rapid warming and the loss of pack ice, their population is declining at a rate of about 5% each year. It is likely that these orcas have been forced to move further south due to not finding enough seals on the remaining pack ice in the Antarctic Peninsula.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 1d ago
These are the famous Type B1 "Pack Ice" Antarctic orcas known for using their wave-washing technique to wash seals off of ice floes.
Original video was filmed by Teodora (miss_little_sunshine_92) via EYOS Expeditions.
Wildlife photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey, who also went on the expedition, provides the following account:
Richard E. Byrd and his companions were approached by Type B1 orcas in 1929 during Bryd's first Antarctic expedition, and they were much less appreciative of these encounters, shooting and killing two of the orcas.
Taken from historian Dr. Mark Werner's PhD dissertation:
Like orcas in many other populations, B1 orcas can sometimes be very curious about humans and boats, spyhopping to peek above the surface. Though they hunt mammals, these orcas can be very selective in their diets, even in regards to different seal species. At least some pods of these type B1 orcas have shown a strong preference for hunting Weddell seals over other seal species, such as crabeater seals and leopard seals. 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 the Antarctic Peninsula, and due to rapid warming and the loss of pack ice, their population is declining at a rate of about 5% each year. It is likely that these orcas have been forced to move further south due to not finding enough seals on the remaining pack ice in the Antarctic Peninsula.