This Week In Animals: Killer Whales, Plus Animal Disguises And Tricks! (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

What a fun week in animals! A gigantic pod of 50 killer whales was filmed feeding on fishermens' scraps near Scotland for the first time ever. In other animal news, HuffPost Green discovered some crazy animal disguises, and animals so weird-looking we never imagined they could exist. Not to mention a vegetarian spider... what a bizarre week. Check out the slideshow and vote on your favorite crazy animal story!

Rare Killer Whales

Thursday morning, a BBC camera crew caught some amazing
footage of a pod of killer whales approaching a a fishing boat and feeding on the mackerel that escaped its nets.

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[anticapitalist1983]

http://www.all-creatures.org/quotes/beston_henry.html

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate for having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein do we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth."

other nations...­........

[lillibelle]

Here's a great video of orcas teaching their young 'wave hunting.' The ending will surprise you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBF9cDBUakA

[lillibelle]

Another curiosity is why their dorsal fin collapses when they are in captivity. Have scientists figures that one out?

[mulegino]

Is there a recorded attack of Orcas/ killer whales on human beings? Having lived on the Sa of Cortez for over 12 years, I never heard of such a thing. Just curious.

[buzzard123]

A beautiful sight indeed, but they are Orca; not killer whales.
The reality is that many of these animals are most probably laced with bisphenol-A, mercury and other toxins because of their high status in the food chain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

[minimalist syntax]

As for the reading dog, the trainer seems to subtly act out the commands as she shows the signs, so it is perhaps not as impressive as it might be.

[Tulka2]

Google "clever hans', but from your intelligent response, you probably know this. He was a counting horse whose owner probably sincerely didn't know he was cuing the horse. The horse disappeared into history when someone thought to take the owner out of the room. It was said the horse was "just" waiting for subtle shifts in body language. But.... that's what wild horses do, don't they?

[HFR]

Eden killer whales, the story of Old tom, that is!

[HFR]

Have a look at, eden killer whales, your going to love this!

[Tulka2]

Reminds me of that vividly written passage in Moby Dick. The crew spots Right Whales, they put in their long boats, and wait. Suddenly, the whole pod rises around them. They are stunned. They are in a little boat in the middle of it.

It's better in the book. I read it so long ago and yet remember it as though it happened to me.

[Tundrapat]

I was the only person in my AP English class who liked Moby Dick. Really, though - good stuff. The 'interchapters' about aspects of whaling industry life were pretty cool.

[Tulka2]

It's taught by people who don't understand the historical context. If the tone of the thing were made clear to kids, they would see the sailors were tough and had a modern gallows humor. I love the first chapter that does an inventory of the American landscape. The book haunts me and hangs before my eyes. I see Ahab everywhere in American culture today.

[lillibelle]

"Ahab's Wife" was very good.

[lobo1939]

Those whales will be available at your local sushi bar next week.

[wadenelson1]

If there's a Japanese fishing boat within 1000km they will be.

[thegirlnextdoor]

"While I realize "killer whales" makes a great headline, they are called Orcas. And they are not killers. They sometime hunt whales. So the correct description might be whale killers.
I live in Victoria BC on the Straight of Juan de Fuca and we have three pods here and they are a delight. Nice to know there is a big family of them gives the Scots something fun to watch.

[Tulka2]

Hey, Bellinghamster here. Things would be better for the Orcas if Victoria, B.C., might see their way clear to stop dumping the city's raw sewage into the salt water.

[macbabe]

agree, they have been doing it for decades and needs to stop, to much political B S letting it happen...

[thegirlnextdoor]

Yeah, well I voted for the sewage treatment every time.

[Tundrapat]

Hi fellow Northerner (Alaskan, meself) - I have to agree on hte orca' name, but respectfully disagree on the 'not killers' part.

They're animals that eat other animals. Not pre-deceased animal carcasses, but animals. Thus - they are killers. If you've ever seen them take a seal or sea lion (or an otter, something that's becoming far more common), you'd be hard pressed to disagree.

Having said that - they're also highly social, and pretty phenomenal creatures (as are most whales and whale 'pods' or groups).

[lillibelle]

They're not just killers- but extremely intelligent ones. The larger whales have been known to just roll over and await their fate when exhaustion sets in trying to escape the pod. Then, the orcas devour the tongue and leave the rest of the whale to slowly perish and sink to the bottom of the ocean floor.

Nature can be brutal and these carnivores are at the top of the food chain.

[Root]

I once sailed through a super-pod of what must have been over a hundred spinner dophins. One of the most amazing experiences of my life. Dolphins were jumping out of the waves all around the sailboat.

[TanzaniteDiamonds]

What an incredible experience that must have been for you. Dolphins are so beautiful too! They can be very playful.

There's also something very peaceful about seeing dolphins in the waves at sunset. I don't see them that often, but the few times I've been able to enjoy those moments, I never forget them.

[onalimb]

Positive energy to the stranded manatee hopefully being transported from Linden NJ near a refinery to Fla: http://www.kyw1060.com/Workers-Hope-to-Guide-Stranded-NJ-Manatee-to-Safet/5458572

[dannyluv]

I am fortunate to live on a small island in the Puget Sound in Washington State, (Guemes Island) and we have 3 resident pods, J, K, and L pods each with about 50-75 Orcas per pod. We also get transient Orcas and pods passing thru my back yard from time to time. The real danger for Orcas is not the Japanese whalers, but the Orca sight seeing industry. The boat traffic and the stalking of whales by these "good intentioned" whale watching boats puts intense pressure on the pods, or whale families. The noise in the water and the boat propellers are also a direct threat. Earlier this summer 6 or 7 Orcas passed my backyard and following were 15 boats of all sizes, a small plane and a helicopter. The boats race ahead and wait for the Orcas to swim under the boats. The stalking practice is regulated y the state, but little or no enforcement occurs. Whales depend on sonic sounds to communicate, and the boat motors have an adverse effect on this. 2 Years ago, Luna, a small adolescent Orca was killed by a boat propeller a few miles from my home, she was a local favorite and is missed.

[vegemight]

Great post, danny.

[thegirlnextdoor]

I live across the water from you in Victoria. When I have done the whale watching tour the young folks guiding have been very protective and very careful. They would place the boat far ahead of the whales and then turn off the motors so the water is silent.
I thought Luna was hit by a private boat, not a whale watching vessel.
But, I do understand the concerns surrounding the whales peace and quiet.

[MamaBird62]

Luna was killed by a tugboat. He was playing alongside, as he often did, and got sucked into the propeller.

[MamaBird62]

I live in Mukilteo and have also been fortunate to spot both grays and orcas in the Sound. The Sound has become far less hospitable to orcas, but I'm hopeful about new initiatives to protect them. They are fantastic creatures.

[WorkingClass]

ROCK ON WHALES