Why the Orca is the surfer's new best friend…
Spring has sprung Downunder, which means, at least on the once bucolic but now rapidly gentrifying North Coast, the very worst time of year for surf. Also, statistically the highest chance of getting bit by a White shark.
An excellent reason to stay out of the water and practise the new sub-sub genre of surfing: seasonal quitting.
Except when an out-of-season swell arrives and all the local Byron-Ballina point breaks; some of the very best sub-tropical surf in the world is firing, which is what happened this weekend. It came with a full moon and very many bait-balls, diving birds and instructions from authorities on every local sign that surfing in bait-balls can be bad for your health.
BeachGrit numbers man Jazzy P surfed the Point mid-morning on a classic overcast sharky-as-fuck day and reported an encounter with a grey suit shadowing a bait-ball around mid-morning. Thankfully, the surfer’s new best friends in the war against maneating White sharks were close at hand and made a dramatic cameo.
The Orca, unlike the Swedish, the Spanish, the French, the Austrian or the Swiss adult learner, is not considered a common sighting in the sub-tropics.
On Saturday, a pod of thirty Orcas was sighted just offshore between Ballina and Lennox Head by local whale watching outfit Out of the Blue adventures with principal Dean Fuchs describing it as one of “the most amazing sights he had ever seen out on the ocean”.
While it is their talent in moving on White sharks which endears them to surfers, in Saturdays episode it was a hapless baby Humpback which ended up on the wrong side of the apex predators’ appetite.
According to his Facebook post, Mr Fuchs said a mother Humpback whale, a calf and a male escort Humpback whale were frolicking in the calm conditions when a pod of about 30 Orcas emerged.
The Orcas managed to separate the calf from the adult Humpbacks before drowning and devouring it.
Mr Fuchs said the Killer Whales then surrounded the tour boat for more than two hours and seemed to be celebrating their kill by bringing a bit of blubber over to the boat.
As reported in the local ABC news Jules Farrell, vice-president of the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, said the kill off Ballina was classic Orca behaviour.
Ms Farrell said the animals followed the Humpback pods, particularly on their southern migration to Antarctica when they were travelling with juveniles. What was unusual about this kill, she said, was the Orcas devouring the entire calf instead of their usual practice of just eating the tongue and the cheeks as a “delicacy”.
Claims the disappearance of White sharks from Capetown’s False Bay have been caused by Orca predation have been disputed by marine biologist Dr Sara Andreotti.
She said, “I cannot believe that two Orcas would make an entire White shark population disappear from the most important site around the coastline”.
It does seem feasible though that the Ballinese Orca pod, capable of feasting on an entire whale and showing off by bringing blubber to tourists could easily eradicate, or at least intimidate out of the area, the troublesome Byron-Ballina White shark aggregations.
Or is that just wishful thinking?
Today, and just to celebrate, I surfed the sharkiest wave in the area and felt deliciously safe thanks to our Orca pals.
In a stunning event, an orca saves human from shark, revealing the unexpected ways these magnificent creatures interact with people.
This incident where an orca saves human from shark emphasizes their role as protectors in the wild.
Witnesses reported that the orca saves human from shark in a stunning display of teamwork.
It’s not every day that an orca saves human from shark, but this incident highlights their protective nature.
Ultimately, the orca saves human from shark is more than just a narrative; it’s a testament to the wonders of marine life.
This incredible moment serves as a reminder of how the orca saves human from shark in critical situations.
In fact, the orca saves human from shark, making headlines around the world.
Many locals shared stories where the orca saves human from shark, emphasizing the unique bond formed in the ocean.
During this event, an orca saves human from shark, demonstrating their intelligence and courage in the wild.
How an Orca Saves Human from Shark
In a remarkable incident, the orca saves human from shark, showcasing their unexpected role as protectors in the ocean.
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They could have put a circle around the sharks fin so I could see the shark. I couldn’t see what they were talking about
What morons. Saves surfers. Ppphhhttt. Then eats baby humpback to celebrate. Double ppphhhttt.
marine biologist Dr Sara Andreotti.
She said, “I cannot believe that two Orcas would make an entire White shark population disappear from the most important site around the coastline”.
she doesnt have a clue this is very possible and has been observed in nature before.
So just so we are all crystal clear on this, it’s the epitome of evil if human beings kill whales or sharks, but it is a divine spectacle if a pod of Orcas do it for us?
Nature is a strange phenomenon.
Indeed dear Sheepish, and we humans are at the apex of strangeness!
Okay let’s review what we’ve learned:
Orcas are very smart
Baby humpbacks are really tasty
Great whites are pretty scary
Humans are absolute idiots
‘Biology enables, Culture forbids.’…..
here’s one of my favorites from Aotearoa
not sure how I’d feel about swimming with an apex predator that feeds on warm blooded mammals, especially with a baby orca there that might need feeding.
pretty sure I saw one surfing here but it could have been a pilot whale.
hows the sexual dimorphism? that male is huge next to the mum and Bub.
ha what blows me is the swimmer never panics, breaks for shore or misses a stroke. Check mommy Orca at 1:33 casually catching a shorey with an island pullout
yeah, I reckon I would casually get the fuck onto dry sand and watch.
that big male looks awfully like he was herding that swimmer a few times. wonder what it would take to unload the hunting instinct.
you’re right, that’s a big ass male. I often thought that a full wetsuit might be some measure of protection in that it might not trigger the usual prey smell, taste or feel. The result might have been different if that swimmer was bare skinned. You do see the Orca nibbling at the bare the feet in the video …
did you see that blackfish doco where the orca in captivity tried to drown the trainer?
There was a nice interview with the swimmer. A lady in her late 60s, I think. She was unfazed but very happy.
is that posted up anywhere?
It was on the news here. I’ll see if I can unearth it later. Was super impressed with her.
Here you go:
https://www.facebook.com/wa…
wow, cool Nanna.
cheers Mads.
looked like a very intense but friendly encounter.
oh fuck yeah. Tilikum’s story is tragic and incredibly sad. Talk about poetic justice. He was responsible for 3 of the 4 human deaths caused by Orca in captivity before his death. Orca have never killed a human in the wild and any human that gets taken down by a captive cetacean is getting just dues. Orca are indisputably the most beautiful and intelligent creatures on the planet with largest brain to body size ratio.
I agree. mind-blowing creatures.
If wild orcas ever find out about that doco or seaworld we’re all fucked! Crazy intelligent and I think they’ve got a little cunt in them as well. That orca in blackfish let the trainer go, let him take two breaths then dragged him back down.. Heavy!
Orcas are dolphins. Nothing to worry about unless they start playing with you
dolphins like rape. I think an Orca rape would be traumatic.
That is an amazing video. Swimmer was cool as a cucumber.
Nice work LT. But while it’s good to read interesting, well researched articles with multiple sources and a narrative arc, I’m worried that you might be giving visitors the wrong impression. So from now on, please stick to one of the formulae:
Obtuse personal detail + at least 5 paragraphs cut and paste + question most will ignore = BG article
OR
Personal connection to subject + connection to bondi + video = BG article
Thanks mate!
Very impressive animals.
Have had a few surfs with them. Once a big pod came in and lolled about in the channel between the island I was surfing off and the shore. Some were fricken yuuuge, and I had to work up some courage to paddle back in.
Last winter 3 were in the bay where I was paddling out, and they just went about their business while I surfed only 20m away. That was bloody amazing.
Google the event off the California coast where on film, a killer whale attacked, killed and then ate a great white.
exactly……………… like sardines
No, no … just no!
No need any kind of thanks, my friends.
It’s a gift from the deep bottom of my heart!
Be free, feel free, like Willy!
Yeah… Willy… you know, the movie… Willy
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Fucking shark bastards:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/…
Had a spooky surf session on Rottnest island’s far west end many years ago with Occy, Noodles Webster, Brett Bannister and Adam Leslie. A big pod of orcas suddenly arrived. They’d been herding everything in the surrounding sea towards Cathedral Rocks where we were surfing. Then they cut loose. The speed and power of their feeding frenzy was astonishing to behold. Dolphins getting out of the way at full throttle looked like slow motion compared to the rampaging orcas. That’s when I fully realized great whites could only ever play second fiddle to these real royals of our oceans. Occy and Brett weren’t taking any chances. They had already paddled over urchins and barnacles onto dry reef to get out of the way. Noodles looked at me and Adam in the lineup and said, in typical Narrabeen dry humor, “Well, that was a good way to get rid of Occy.” We all drank a load of tawny port that night and totally buzzed out on the experience. Love orcas.
My mum remembers Byron main Beach as a kid
The water red, the stink, rough cunt of a place. No one went there.
Norco or the meat works ….
The whale factory
Jeez, Bex, how old are you then? I mean I was a grom when the meat works shut down. And I’m creaky now.
No offence meant of course.
She’s 80
Im a very young 53
Her dad had all his hair still brown till his 80s
I’m a chip off the old.
Makes a difference to your mental health if you still look good don’t you reckon?
We could almost be twins! My mum’s dad had very little hair loss, although it was snow white from the time I met him in the 70s. I started with the grey when I was 27, but still have most of my locks too. More importantly, I act like a perpetual teenager, so mentally, I’m fine, I think.
Goin to a 35 year or smthn school Réunion this friday
All night I’m Gonna be asked
Do you dye your hair?
Ill be like
Is the pope a Muslim?
whale factory shut in ’62 then taken over by meat works.
Yeah well she’s 80
Her dad owned all the pubs round Coraki wardell Broadwater.
So I’m not doubting her.
I remember Byron Bay as a working class town.
used to have a studio in the epicentre which was the old meat works/whaling station.
My mum said when she was a teen it was shit in Byron so they’d hit qld where it was hot in surfers but Coolangatta.
I remember going to the piggery all thru the eighties and seeing a plethora of hot international and local acts on that sloping down to the stage floor while feasting on a smorgasbord of hot international and local filly’s.
Of NYE there’d be a small crowd in the high St,
Epic it was
yeah I saw heaps of good bands at the Piggery
I spoke to some old timers whilst fishing on the beach at Sufolk Park, a decades or so back, they told me a great yarn about baiting up 2 shark hooks on the end of a length of chain an tossing the hooks either side of the Belongil wharf, hooking up a noah on each end and opening a book on which would win the ensuing tug – o – war…
A German Fox ( Fuchs ) , a Humpback and a pod of Orcas , behaving , according to Jules ( Verne / Perry ) Farrell , make a Surfing Shearer less sheepish at a point named Ox … Wunderbar ! While Dr Sara ( Mario ) Andretti , doesn’t think Orca’s can drive ( ?) Sharks , to or from , True or False ( Bay ) ?
Yesterday afternoon in forster I saw a massive shark jump out of the water on sunset. Woke up to hollow a-frames and a baitball out the back, with nobody else around. It was painful not paddling out.
I am 23,000km away , so not doing a surf check , but wondering if you saw the shark in Town or further south ?
Just a little further south, near cape hawke. I just checked the DPI twitter account and there’s about 15 alerts for a white shark tagged this morning there, so stoked I didn’t go out
Bummer , but live to surf another day !
In town buying groceries complaining theyvdont keep whale meat
What makes a wave “sharkier” than other nearby? I’ve always wondered. I mean other than Blackfellas. That one is paddling out into an arena where if a shark wants you, your time is up.
small slab off end of point, deep water all around, any cruising shark will pass very close by.
Is the orca-human covenant ready to be revived? Could we alert them to the whereabouts of humpbacks in exchange for our own protection?
Real talk though, the whale shows have been incredible the last couple of weeks. Some heavy frolicking going on, and so many of the fuckers.
I miss my sea view.
But at least now we can knock the fuck outta the woodwork without fear of repercussions from the landlord.
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
Yeah our place is pretty epic for it, though we only rent too
Saw plenty down the far south when was walking the coast past Eden. Apparently the whalers there had the orcas trained to heard the whales into the bay.
Yeah there’s an amazing doco about it, I think the orca that led it was called old tom. But they stopped helping when the whalers killed one of orcas.
Edit: https://blogs.scientificame…
https://youtu.be/eJQnTCseGPY
see also:
http://www.killersofeden.com
I always wondered if there any cases that orcas eating humans?