All posts tagged: killer whale

Killer whale Tahlequah who carried dead calf in ‘show of grief’ gives birth again

Killer whale Tahlequah who carried dead calf in ‘show of grief’ gives birth again

Published by Sam

A killer whale mother who carried her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent show of grief has given birth to a new calf, scientists have said. The orca, named Tahlequah and known to researchers as J35, had carried her dead infant for more than 1,000 miles in 2018. But last Friday the whale was spotted travelling with a new calf in the Puget Sound waterway off the coast of Washington State, according to the Center for Whale Research. In a Facebook post, it said a team of researchers had been able to observe the calf and confirm it is female, giving it the name J61. But it said the team was concerned about the calf’s health “based on the behaviour of both J35 and J61”. “Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year,” the centre said. “J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days.” In a post on X, the …

Lone killer whale kills and eviscerates great white shark in under 2 minutes in ‘unprecedented’ attack

Lone killer whale kills and eviscerates great white shark in under 2 minutes in ‘unprecedented’ attack

Published by Sam

Scientists have published dramatic footage of the moment a lone killer whale hunted and ate a great white shark off the coast of South Africa, in the first documented incident of its kind. Researchers said the “unprecedented” display of predatory prowess unfolded in a matter of just two minutes, from the moment the orca struck the shark on its pectoral fin to the extraction of the fish’s nutrient-rich liver. The attack occurred off the coast of Mossel Bay in South Africa on 18 June 2023 and involved a killer whale who has previously been observed by scientists, nicknamed Starboard, attacking a juvenile great white shark. “The astonishing predation, off the coast of Mossel Bay, South Africa, represents unprecedented behavior underscoring the exceptional proficiency of the killer whale,” said Dr Alison Towner from Rhodes University, who led an international research team on the discovery. While it is not uncommon for orcas to hunt down large animals individually, and there are documented cases of killer whales predating great whites as a group, the Mossel Bay incident is the …

Chase Hall’s ‘Post-Victimhood’ Storytelling – The Atlantic

Chase Hall’s ‘Post-Victimhood’ Storytelling – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

In his Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, André Breton wrote, “The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beautiful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful.” That line came to mind when I stood before Mother Nature, a giant canvas depicting a killer whale lifting a naked man into the air, eye level with a flock of gulls. The image was a highlight of “The Bathers,” Chase Hall’s standout debut at the David Kordansky Gallery in Chelsea this fall. The show, of mostly immense paintings priced from $60,000 to $120,000, was billed as an investigation into “nature, leisure, public space, and Black adventurism.” The playful and enigmatic scenes involved men swimming, surfing, and sometimes levitating, in solitude or among a living bounty of fish and birds. They were at once beautiful and formally striking meditations on the richness and versatility of a single color: brown. At the time of the exhibition, Hall was on the cusp of turning 30. He floated through the gallery in a white tank and loose gray slacks that broke over a …