Marine observers were left stunned after a rare moment in the waters of Western Australia's south coast was caught on camera.

Footage from Whale Watch Western Australia shows a pod of killer whales approaching and seemingly helping a severely unwell, young humpback whale that was tangled in ropes.

Credit: YouTube/Whale Watch Western Australia​

Owner of Whale Watch Western Australia Gemma Sharp said: "We could see he was badly entangled — he had a lot of line around his fluke, and he was heavily infested with whale lice."

For those of you who are not aware, killer whales have a bad rap for being "the bullies of the sea" for their "sadistic" behaviour, which includes tossing seals up in the air before eating them.

Hence, when the orcas — another name for killer whales — started approaching the injured humpback whale, the observers were assuming that the marine predators would gang up on the poor creature.

"These orca here in Bremer are very, very much interested in humpback whales, and it is part of their diet. So, when we saw the injured humpback and the approaching orca we were very concerned," Gemma said.

Killer whales are known for being vicious hunters. Credit: Whale Watch Western Australia.​

However, what happened next was quite the opposite, as the killer whales appeared to help the troubled humpback whale calf.

"It was almost as if they could tell that this whale was too sick and too injured to defend himself and probably wouldn't make a good meal," Gemma said.

"We could see this huge clump of rope that this humpback had been carrying all of a sudden float free, as one of the orcas moved underneath the fluke."

Ocean experts said that orcas rescuing other marine creatures is a rare moment. Credit: Whale Watch Western Australia.​

Ocean expert Hugh Edwards said that the event is baffling for marine experts as orcas are known to be violent hunters.

"It's one of those things in nature that completely baffles us because this is just the complete opposite of what it [the orca] is supposed to do," he said.

 

[Ricci]

In a lot of ways I think Orcas get a bad rap. I'm sure I've seen other videos of them helping other marine life who have got themselves into trouble.

 

[Capsam]

Very unusual but nature is full of surprises. I too thought that they would launch an attack. So glad we humans are not always correct!

 

[JayKay]

Very moving story......nature caring for nature.
My son is a scuba diver.
On one dive, he saw an octopus with fishing line and a lure wound around one of its limbs.
My son slowly approached the octopus and slowly unwound the line, freeing the little octopus.
When my son moved back, he noticed that several fish had gathered to watch....nature caring for nature.
Octopus gather interesting objects so may have tried to take the pink lure back to his den.
They collect all sorts of items ...shiny rocks, shells, bits of metal....the song "Octopus' Garden" describes this habit.

 

[terri]

The human world could learn from this. Dont kick the underdog.

 

[peteloo]

yes, humans could learn from this.
especially not treating the unvaccinated as if they are infected (when even the vaccinated are infected with Omicron).
vaccinated or unvaccinated - all humans should be treated equally in all settings without conditions

 

[Jaclynn McKenzie]

Perhaps, like humans, there are many different personality types in killer whales as well, and the whale was lucky that a kind
group of them came along.