Sperm Whale defends Orca attack during an incredible encounter today and we learnt what an Orca’s kryptonite is… Sperm Whale poo! A battle between the oceans apex predator and the largest toothed predator on the planet is rare to witness and today we were enthralled to watch this extraordinary interaction play out. It was set to be a very busy day as within moments of arriving in The Patch the Orca surfaced around a small oil slick and were happily sharing squid before it was time to get a wiggle on as they regrouped and moved together. Travelling with them we noticed that we were approaching a much larger blow and held our breath for the surfacing, it was an enormous male Sperm Whale! He seemed rather relaxed and not fussed as he re-oxygenated but that didn’t last for long as the Orca hurtled towards him at high speeds. Panicking as he found himself surrounded by Orca he did something that we had witnessed back in Season 2024, releasing an enormous amount of poo which turned the ocean a noticeable brown.
Defecation defence is something that we witnessed from Sperm Whales in March 2024 as they also defended themselves by leaving large plumes of Sperm Whale poo to cover the Orca during each approach. Today though we had one lone, mature male Sperm Whale who was all on his own and had to find a way to defend himself from the ever growing number of Orca barreling down to his location, soon the majority of Queen’s family pod had him surrounded including the matriarch herself. During these interactions it appears the Orca are more likely to be trying to get the Sperm Whales to release any squid they may be carrying or regurgitate squid recently consumed on their last feeding dive rather than trying to kill the Sperm Whale. Throughout the interaction it didn’t appear that the Orca used their teeth on the Sperm Whale at anytime, still the way the Orca moved around him had us all nervous as although we have never witnessed a Bremer Orca successful predation of a Sperm Whale it is not to to say that they haven’t.
The plumes of poo kept coming as the Sperm Whale used this as part of his defence while swiping his fluke and baring his teeth in an open jaw threat towards the Orca. The energy levels went up a notch as the Orca began to breach and tail slap aggressively, racing towards the Sperm Whale as they swam through the excrement but didn’t seemed overly thrilled with having to do that! Eventually matriarch Queen regrouped the family and left the Sperm Whale in peace, a little rattled but impressively he kept his cool and managed the situation and defensive tactics superbly. It was now time to surge west bound and the one thing that slowed up the Orca was another surprise, around fifty Pilot Whales travelled directly towards them! The day had already been extraordinary and this was a very special addition to our sightings today, the predator trifecta out in these waters to observe Orca, Sperm Whale and Pilot Whales in one day. It was interesting to observe the Pilot Whales avoid the Orca, with some brand new babies having been born with the recent full moon it appeared the mother Pilot Whales were playing it safe and keeping a respectful distance from the Orca.
A truly incredible day and rarely sighted interaction between the Orca and Sperm Whale, a nail biting scene to watch unfold but thankfully our oceans largest toothed predator did well to apply his greatest defence which looks to be something the Orca despise… plumes of Sperm Whale poo!
