Killer whales hunt in silent 'stealth mode'

[The Dragon Master]

Orcas avoid being overheard by their prey by hunting in stealth mode, according to researchers.



The scientists wanted to know how orcas, commonly known as killer whales, communicate when hunting mammals, which can hear their distinctive calls.



The researchers thought the predators might switch to very high frequency whistles to co-ordinate the hunt.



But the orcas actually go completely silent and are somehow still able to form organised hunting groups.



Volker Deecke from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and Rüdiger Riesch from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, US, carried out the study, which was published in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.



They used hydrophones - underwater microphones - to listen to and record orcas communicating with each other. The team could even hear crunching sounds when the animals were eating their prey.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9409000/9409694.stm

 

[Evil Eye]

Do they do bonus damage by attacking from stealth mode?

Odd though... wonder how they do that.

 

[The Dragon Master]

Did you read the rest of the article?

 

[Evil Eye]

How they manage this level of co-ordination is not clear.

They're telepathic whales!