Whales save seal from orcas

[onestepforward]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/26/whales-save-seal-from-orcas

snip-

"But here's a sight to gladden the eye. Earlier this year, Californian scientists Robert L Pitman and John W Durban sailed to the Antarctic in search of killer whales. They were looking for a possible new species, known to hunt Weddell seals — one of the plumpest of the pinnipeds (the suborder that includes seals and sea lions) — by washing them off ice floes with their wake.

That's what was happening here — until a group of humpback whales arrived on the scene. Unlike orca, which are odontocetes or toothed whales, humpbacks are mysticetes, harmless leviathans with only baleen plates in their mouths.

Doubtless open-mouthed themselves, Pitman and Durban — along with a film crew from the BBC Natural History unit — watched as one seal, swept into the water by the orca, swam towards the humpbacks.

As the killer whales moved in, the plucky pinniped leapt on to the vast ribbed belly of a humpback, and nestled in the animal's armpit. Not only that, but when a wave threatened to return the seal to danger, the humpback used its massive flipper (at five metres, the longest in the animal kingdom) to nudge it back on.

"Moments later the seal scrambled off and swam to the safety of a nearby ice floe," wrote the scientists. They believe the seal triggered a maternal defence mechanism in the humpbacks. Whatever the truth, it's a heartening tale. But spare a thought for the orca. They've got kids to feed, too."




What an amazing story!

[Taverner]

1. Hmmm this got my small brain spinning...

Could Seals be the dogs to Humpback Whales' humans?

Could Humpback Whales keep seals as pets - or at least befriend them?

Have there been any reported symbiotic relationships between humpback whales and seals?

[rcrush]

2. I bet there some Whales that want to ban certain seals cause they are jerks

lolol :rofl:

[onestepforward]

3. Good questions!

I was wondering if it might be a type of empathy toward other animals in distress. Whales and dolphins have saved humans before. There is still so much to learn about these incredible animals.

[Taverner]

4. What we're learning is that we are animals, and many of our behaviors we learned long ago

It appears compassion is no stranger to other species (Elephants, Chimpanzees, Whales, Dolphins and Seals)

This is where my ethical reasoning for vegetarianism comes from (although I am not yet a vegetarian)

[joeybee12]

5. Fascinating...it would be interesting to see if this behavior is common...

and the humpbacks will always protect these seals. I just wonder if they might have done it out of self-interest...the Orcas, while not competitos for food, would see humpback newborns as prey...