Photographers off the coast of Sri Lanka managed to capture underwater footage of a rare encounter when a pod of orcas attacked a sperm whale. Fewer than a dozen of these types of predation have been observed, though some of our guests are among the lucky few to have seen it. During an expedition in Baja California’s Sea of Cortez, we observed orcas attack a juvenile sperm whale. The orcas were chased off when a large male returned to the group and sped into the fray. Our video chronicler shot a video expedition report on the event, but without underwater footage, you can largely only see the roily waters.
Shawn Heinrichs, the photographer in Sri Lanka, took the bold step of suiting up to dive with the orcas attacking the sperm whale. As no humans have ever observed this kind of behavior up close, he was relying mostly on faith for his safety.