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B.C. HUMPBACK WHALE VALIANT WARDS OFF GANG ATTACK BY KILLER WHALES
Dramatic scene played out for about 20 minutes in southern Strait of Georgia,
directly in the lane of a B.C. Ferries vessel
Author of the article:
Darron Kloster • Victoria Times Colonist
Publishing date:
Apr 16, 2022 • 3 days ago • 3 minute read • 6 Comments
Frame grab from video shows five-year-old humpback BCX1773 Valiant in the middle
of a large group of Bigg's killer whales (T34, T37, and T65B). Credit: Pacific
Whale Watch Association Photo by Credit: Pacific Whale Watch Asso /PNG
ARTICLE CONTENT
A spunky humpback, aptly known as Valiant, escaped what could have been a
violent attack by a group of nine transient killer whales in the Salish Sea by
using its own form of aggressive behaviour.
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B.C. HUMPBACK WHALE VALIANT WARDS OFF GANG ATTACK BY KILLER WHALES BACK TO VIDEO
The dramatic scene played out Tuesday afternoon for about 20 minutes in the
southern Strait of Georgia, directly in the lane of a B.C. Ferries vessel
heading out from Tsawwassen.
Whale-watching vessels, including a boat from Victoria’s Prince of Whales,
called in the encounter and the ferry changed its course.
Five-year-old Valiant, whose sex still hasn’t been determined, was seen by whale
watchers surrounded and harassed by nine Bigg’s orcas in two hunting families,
said Erin Gless of the Pacific Whale Watch Association.
But the humpback was able to ward off the pods by rolling around and trumpeting
with each surfacing, “a behaviour associated with aggression in humpback
whales,” according to a naturalist aboard one of the two boats at the scene.
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It isn’t Valiant’s first documented run-in with Bigg’s killer whales. At age
two on July 11, 2019, Valiant was seen “chasing after” a group of Bigg’s killer
whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca until the orcas left the area.
On June 26 last year, Victoria-based Eagle Wing Tours observed Bigg’s killer
whale T125A, a large male, pushing Valiant as some younger orcas attempted to
get on top of the whale, but Valiant turned sharply and went on the offensive,
chasing the group off.
Gless said the “extreme scarring” on Valiant’s tail suggests the whale might
have survived a brutal orca attack at just a few months old.
“Did that initial encounter shape the way Valiant interacts with orcas today?
The message is pretty clear — don’t mess with Valiant,” said Gless.
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Transient orcas — the largest species in the dolphin family — eat seals and sea
lions and will hunt and eat younger whale calves, said Gless.
Scientists have shown in studies on both coasts of North America that orcas are
also known to harass adult humpbacks — and even grab a quick chunk of meat off
them.
Orcas would seem to have the advantage of superior speed and four rows of teeth.
Humpbacks, which are baleen whales, don’t have teeth — only screened mouths that
filter water for krill and other feed.
But humpbacks are no pushovers, said Gless.
Adult humpbacks weigh between 30 and 50 tonnes, some growing up to 60 metres in
length, said Gless.
A humpback’s dorsal fin is extremely powerful and its pectoral flippers are the
largest of any whale, measuring up to five metres long.
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Often encrusted with sharp barnacles, the flippers are another deterrent against
orca attacks, said Gless. The aggressive trumpeting, or short, sharp bursts of
breathing, are also noted in the breeding ground when males vie for females.
Gless said based on the documented scars on the tails of humpbacks in the Salish
Sea, at least 25 per cent have had encounters with orcas at some point in their
lives, usually at a young age.
But even as humpbacks grow older and heavier, orca attacks do happen, she said.
Humpbacks consider orcas an arch enemy, said Gless.
“There have been many documented cases around the world of humpbacks
protecting other types of whales,” she said.
“Our [whale-watching] members have also seen humpbacks stopping orca sea lion
hunts.”
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Gless said whether the humpbacks are trying to help other mammals or acting
aggressively for self-preservation is unknown.
In 2016, a team of researchers from Oregon State University found 30 cases from
around the world in which humpbacks attacked orcas when they were pursuing
whales and other mammals.
“The humpback whale is, to our knowledge, the only cetacean that deliberately
approaches attacking mammal-eating killer whales and can drive them off,” said
Dr. Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist and co-author of the report.
“We suggest that the evolution of the humpback’s massive pectoral flippers may
have given it an advantage over killer whales and perhaps altered the balance of
power in their interactions.”
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The Oregon State paper said the humpback’s formidable appendages, when used in
concert with the flukes, “afford humpbacks with fore and aft, offensive and
defensive weaponry — a capability that is unique among living baleen whales.”
The incident this week comes after whale watchers report record numbers of
Bigg’s orca and humpback sightings in the Salish Sea over the past year.
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