Young Killer Whale Sneak Attacks Seabird & Punts It High Into The Air

Here's yet another video of a killer whale playing with its food before making a meal out of it. Officially known as orcas, these large sea creatures (that range from 20 to 30 feet depending on gender) earned the nickname of “Killer” because ancient sailors used to witness them taking down comparatively smaller – yet still sizable – whales. In fact, the only predators that these whales have are bigger whales (typically orcas) and human beings. So killer whales basically own the ocean, and can do whatever they want, whenever they want. That means that if they want to casually attack an innocent bird that floating on the ocean waves... they can do so. And hey, as long as they aren't attacking boats like they seemingly did all of 2023, I'm all good with it. Obviously this poor little bird getting tossed around like a rag doll isn't a pretty sight, but it's basically just an example of how the food chain works out in the wild, am I right? This stunning video below was captured by Evan Brodsky of Monterey Bay Whale Watch in California's Monterey Bey. And I use the word stunning both because it's visually beautiful and because that's exactly what the orca is trying to do to this common murre. It's playfully trying to stun it before it likely ended up eating it as a snack. Now if you are like me, you're probably wondering why the bird isn't just flying away. Common murre are typically formidable flyers, and can even pick up enough speed in the air to dive and swim down as far as 100 feet below the surface of the water. All I can think of is that this bird was already hurt, or the initial attack demobilized it - or it became stunned from the flip like the whale intended. The whale perfectly times a tail slap that sends the bird hurtling through the air and crashing back down into the water. A second clip shows the whale messing with the bird again not too long after, but using its head to send the common murre flying once more. This footage is pretty much a textbook example of a whale practicing its punting behavior. Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_pMYU6xOcy/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=6a8fe5ca-a059-4914-ad0f-0cb1d03726b3