A group of five killer whales was captured on drone footage attacking and killing a gray whale calf on Saturday in Monterey Bay.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch/Gowhales.com sent KRON4 the video showing the first attack of the season. The video is considered graphic.
Nancy Black, a Marine Biologist and owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, explains how the mom gray whale and her calf were passing through Monterey Bay on their way to Alaska. They passed ‘over the dangerous Monterey Submarine Canyon.’
During spring migration, Black says this is the most dangerous parts of the long trip from Mexico to Alaska. This is because killer whales frequent the area.
Black has studied the killer whales for more than 30 years.
As the whale watchers were observing the killer whales on Saturday, they say the whales were zig-zagging back and forth along the south canyon edge when they sped up and pounced on the mom and calf.
According to whale watch, the attack lasted four hours as the mom tried to protect her baby. The video shows the killer whales ramming the calf in order to get it away from the mom.
Black says this type of interaction is a ‘harsh fact of nature.’
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