From wave washing seals off Antarctic ice to snatching sea lions from the shoreline, killer whales are renowned for their effective hunting techniques.
Now, killer whales have been filmed practising a new technique to hunt the largest animal to have ever lived: blue whales.
In footage narrated by David Attenborough for the BBC TV series Parenthood, a pod gathers for a practise run of their method, which consists of piling on one of the orcas and covering its blowhole, effectively ‘drowning’ the animal.
It’s then time for the real thing.
While orcas work in groups to take down prey including young humpback whales, whale sharks and even great whites, studies of orcas killing blue whales were only first published in 2022.
This article by Sophie Ellis was first published by Discover Wildlife on 19 September 2025. Lead Image: A pair of killer whales in Western Australia in BBC’s Parenthood. Credit: BBC/Silverback Films.
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