The pod circled us one last time, then disappeared.
We assumed they were being drawn together for what might be the world’s biggest animal orgy. The orca trying to feed their own families.
One whale came right alongside us. The sperm whales, who were in danger, had sent out urgent sonar signals asking for help. Naim's incredible Mu-So Qb takes you back to the good old days - where the music captivates and enthralls, rather that simply being something in the background. But as we left the scene, we saw the orcas up ahead — and it was they who were smashing their tails down on the water now. Someone said the classic line from Jaws: ‘We’re going to need a bigger boat’. It had been bitten clean off. Then they turned — and began to circle us. They seemed to be wearing down the sperm whales’ resistance.
It happened in a national marine reserve off the west coast of Sri Lanka, where, under special licence, we spent the past week patrolling the waters. A split second later, we were swimming as fast as I ever had — with a whale on our tails. but it is $250 cheaper and still get most of the other cutting-edge features found on the more expensive model. But in all those years, I’d never seen anything remotely approaching the awful spectacle I came across the other day when a group of 25 or so killer whales launched a bloody attack on a pod of about 30 sperm whales.
We were all hyped up, shouting and swearing, the adrenaline running through our bodies. Their sheer staying power, their stamina, combined with their loyalty, had presented the ultimate defence. With their eyes set in the sides of their head, it was the way they could see us best. Sperm whales are immensely intelligent and armed with tails that could swat a killer whale in an instant. We relaxed.
In fact, the huge animals had started to use our boat as a block against the remorseless assault. And it could have been a lethal one. The killers started attacking the sperm whales. The sperm whales defending their most vulnerable. ‘Dolphins,’ I shouted. But he shouted: ‘Out of the water! Again and again. Inquisitive, they turned on their backs below us. We followed in the boat.
Why? Carbon and metal particles from traffic fumes found in pregnant women's placentas for the first time are... Government urged to 'prove' the Apple and Google coronavirus contact tracing-app works by publishing data... People who can afford exciting experiences like vacations and hobbies produce more memories that are easier... NASA images of asteroid Bennu reveal 'extremely bright' chunks of another asteroid on the surface. Sometimes they hope to get titbits of food if the sperm whales have just returned from a foraging dive. They were lying alongside us, close to the side of the boat.
Killer whales, or orcas, are perhaps the greatest, most cunning and organised predators on the planet. I couldn’t bear it.
Peloton's hi-tech bike lets you stream live and on demand rides to your home - and it's one of the best examples of fitness technology out there - at a price. Killer whales are so-called because they kill whales — and have often been known to attack sperm whales, despite being a third of their size. Andrew is not a man who’s easily frightened. Were the orcas about to claim their prize?
The orca seemed to realise that they themselves might be in deadly danger from the whales they were trying to predate. What did they want? It's eye-wateringly expensive at $2,999, but Naim's Uniti Atom is a revelation, an integrated amplifier than makes it easy to stream music at a quality you've probably never heard before. Too soon. Gradually the blows multiplied: ten, 15, 20. Just half an hour out from shore, we saw the distinctive blows of sperm whales — once the most hunted whale in the world’s oceans. Their grey bulbous heads, shiny under the tropical sun, rose above the water, then dipped down. They’re immensely intelligent and armed with tails that could swat a killer whale in an instant. The sperm whales had their own strategy, though; a new tactic.
Over the past 17 years, I’ve been studying and writing about whales, swimming with them and getting close to them.
They lashed out with their huge, muscular tails, thwacking the water and discharging clouds of red faeces to distract and disconcert the orca. The orcas’ assault was relentless.
I felt a huge sense relief as the orca peeled away, and it seemed that the whole extraordinary episode was over.
Seeing the beauty of both species so close together and in such numbers was completely undercut by the imminent slaughter.
Or was it about to bite? Perhaps they’d been using us to show their young how to hunt and the lesson was over.
It was very scary indeed. It's always hard, if not impossible, not to invest such sentient animals with anthropomorphic qualities. Suddenly we were as vulnerable as the sperm whales we had just left. This truly was a battle of the leviathans: one that turned the sea white as the combatants thrashed furiously against each other.
Rather than cram in a plethora of new features, Apple's latest update is about boosting stability, with improvements in everything from FaceID and battery life. A pod perhaps 25-strong were swimming round the sperm whales, as if rounding them up. No killer whale has ever been recorded killing a human at sea, but there’s always a first time. On one hand, the XR lacks the high-resolution screen and dual-lens camera on the XS. It was nature at its most raw - a savage sea battle between the world's most awesome predators. To begin with, it had seemed like a scene from Eden, with dolphins leaping, turtles mating, flying fish and flying squid. Do people never get tired of these animal on animal matchups? Intensely agile, killer whales can attack at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour with three inch long teeth. But this was no joke. I don’t know. These animals were responding to spring and mating, en masse, rolling around one another, touching fins and tails. It was an intentional and very definitely aggressive act.