Amazing Footage of Orca and Humpback Whales Hunting Together

Undeniably, orca and humpback whales have different reputations: the orca as a merciless apex predators with a taste for seal and dugong, the humpback as a gentle giant that sings a ghostly, deep-sea song. However, this video from production company Visualmondo shows that they hold one striking similarity – a relentless taste for herring. With that in mind, they are prepared to hunt together in share of their common culinary love.

Filmed along the Norwegian fjords of Vengsoya from November until January, the video combines both drone, underwater and standard footage of what Visualmondo appropriately titled “The Feast”. Opening with a smooth aerial shot of an orca gliding through icy blue waters, it swims headfirst into a black plume of herring that billows in an instant.

More orcas appear as gulls dip in and out seeking scraps, miniscule against the enormous whales performing their unique “carousel feeding” technique. As the creators note in the video description, this technique involves beating the fish with their tail, paralysing the herring and making them easier to feed upon.

Humpbacks then proceed to join the hunt, sailing in formation through the fjord’s waters under a jagged rollercoaster of snow-capped mountains. Joining the orcas, they dip down and then surface, taking a “huge gulp” of herring along the way.

This remarkable 4K footage was filmed using a DJI Phantom 4, Panasonic GH4, GoPro Hero 4, and Red Epic for the thrilling underwater sequences. So remarkable, in fact, that it features on the BBC’s new and expectedly jaw-dropping Blue Planet II.

If you loved this footage, make sure to check out their YouTube channel, or visit editor and cameraman Carl Finkbeiner’s website!