Heroes in the Sea
Heroes in the sea
Sienna Chitwood
A commonly known fact is that in the wild, animals survive day to day with hunting prey or getting away from the predator that’s hunting them. It is rare in nature when other animals help those who are being hunted, because they are more worried about surviving. An interesting example of this is the humpback whale. The Humpback whale is known for their whale sounds and their popularity in whale watching due to their breaching habits. Breaching is when a sea creature who needs to take in more oxygen that is not in the water comes up to the surface commonly this is whales and dolphins. However, a not as commonly discussed part of the Humpback whales’ habits is to save seals, sea lions and sunfish from their natural predator, the orca also known as the killer whale.
The first publicly documented example of this was in Antarctica in 2009. The discovery was documented by a man named Robert 
Pitman. He was one of the first scientists that made a documented discovery of these heroes in action; he was following a pod of orcas during their migration when he stumbled upon this bizarre marine behavior. As described in psychologytoday.com, (a website explaining psychology behavior of humans and animals) “while observing a pod of killer whales hunting a Weddell Seal…as they were closing in for the kill, a magnificent Humpback whale suddenly rose up out of the water beneath the seal.” The humpback whale flipping onto its back exposing its stomach with the seal perched on top must have been quite a sight. There were more reports of humpback whales saving prey from their predators by getting them out of the water completely. To using their tails to make waves to separate the prey from the predators.
The exact reason that humpback whales do this strange behavior is still unknown to scientists today. The main running theory that scientists have is that humpback whales might confuse seals and other animals as their young calves and go to save them. They may have an instinct to dislike orcas due to the fact that they eat their young. According to Baleinesendirect.org a website specializing in whale research and conservation, stated that “humpback whale calves are frequent victims of killer whale attacks, resulting in a high mortality rate amongst young individuals.” This, in theory, proves that the heroes of the water might only be confused. Whatever the reason, humpback whales still rescue those animals in distress and this strange behavior is still being studied today as we try to learn more about this selfless whale’s strange behavior in the wild.