{"id":2191143,"date":"2026-05-22T06:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2191143"},"modified":"2026-05-16T09:19:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T08:19:44","slug":"david-attenborough-narrates-ruthless-shocking-footage-of-orcas-kidnapping-a-vulnerable-humpback-whale-calf-right-under-its-poor-mothers-nose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/david-attenborough-narrates-ruthless-shocking-footage-of-orcas-kidnapping-a-vulnerable-humpback-whale-calf-right-under-its-poor-mothers-nose\/","title":{"rendered":"David Attenborough narrates ruthless, shocking footage of orcas kidnapping a vulnerable humpback whale calf right under its poor mother&#8217;s nose&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a display of sophisticated predatory behaviour, three\u00a0orcas\u00a0were seen using a highly strategic hunting method to \u2018kidnap\u2019 a young humpback whale, from under its mother\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n<p>This entirely new tactic had never been seen before by scientists and was documented by a camera team for the first time for the BBC\u2019s 2024 documentary series,\u00a0<em>Mammals<\/em>, narrated by\u00a0Sir David Attenborough.<\/p>\n<p>The astonishing abduction was filmed off the coast of Western Australia at Nigaloo, the largest fringing coral reef on Earth, thought to be the birthing place of a rapidly growing population of humpback whales. Since the banning of commercial whaling in 1986, humpback whales have risen in number from a few hundred to more than 35,000.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe id=\"23418639\" title=\"Orca Kidnaps Baby Humpback Whale | 4K UHD | Mammals | BBC Earth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oP6smuWzZCk?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.discoverwildlife.com\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-129157385_7=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Despite the setting, there\u2019s little for the humpbacks to eat here and eventually hunger drives them to start the epic migration to Antarctica where food is abundant.<\/p>\n<p>The calves have grown a little from their mother\u2019s milk but once outside the fringing reef they are vulnerable. The brief appearance of the orcas \u2013 roughly just 40 individuals and unlike the\u00a0humpbacks, their numbers here are falling \u2013 is timed to coincide with the months of humpback migration.<\/p>\n<p>Enter a small pod of orcas, just three, pursuing a calf with its mother, accompanied by a 40-ton male. The escort is a challenge, but the orcas bide their time. When the male dives, perhaps thinking they\u2019ve gone, the killers seize their chance and capture the calf at high speed, mimicking the mother\u2019s behaviour by putting the calf on their backs and carrying it in the wake behind their fins. Young and na\u00efve, the calf goes along.<\/p>\n<p>In a nearby boat, the crew filmed the action, recording the remarkable physics of the heist using a stabilised underwater camera rig, purpose-built to film at high speed and give new insights into how the orca work together, using their mammalian intelligence and communication to overcome an adversary many times their size.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis completely new methodology shocked the crew and underlined just how incredible mammals are; when presented with a problem they can design, communicate and execute a plan as a team,\u201d said\u00a0<em>Mammals<\/em>\u00a0producer Daniel Rasmussen.<\/p>\n<p>Orcas are fussy eaters and often target calves for their protein-rich tongues, leaving the rest of the carcass for scavengers, such as sharks. They sometimes kill as many as five calves a day. But such attacks are not without risks for the orcas. Some mothers fight tooth and nail, and one swing of a humpback fin could injure an orca.<\/p>\n<p><em>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/marine-animals\/orcas-kidnapping-humpback-calf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">article<\/a> by Debbie Graham was first published by Discover Wildlife on 9 May 2026. Lead Image: Getty Images.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Help to protect wildlife<\/h2>\n<p><em>Protect wildlife by making a monthly donation as little as $5.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/install-popup-button.js\" id=\"donorbox-popup-button-installer\"> <\/script><a id=\"preview_inline_popup_button\" class=\"dbox-donation-button\" style=\"background: #0dc5dc; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; display: flex; gap: 8px; width: fit-content; font-size: 16px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 24px; padding: 8px 24px;\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/focusing-on-wildlife-needs-your-support?default_interval=m&amp;amount=25\" data-reminder-widget-enabled=\"true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">PROTECT WILDLIFE<\/a><script type=\"module\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/widgets.js\" async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It only takes a minute!<\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a display of sophisticated predatory behaviour, three\u00a0orcas\u00a0were seen using a highly strategic hunting method to \u2018kidnap\u2019 a young humpback whale, from under its mother\u2019s nose. This entirely new tactic had never been seen before by scientists and was documented by a camera team for the first time for the BBC\u2019s 2024 documentary series,\u00a0Mammals, narrated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2206137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/orca-hunting-humpbacks.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5],"tags":[12649,2402,9749,4123],"class_list":["post-2191143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-david-attenborough","tag-humpback-whales","tag-orcas","tag-whales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2191143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2191143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2191143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2191143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}