--- title: "Drone Video Captures Furious Battle Between Orcas and Gray Whales" description: "A drone captured an incredibly rare — and anxiety-inducing — sight: a pod of 30 killer Orca whales hunting two full-grown gray whales in a five-hour battle." date: "2023-04-04" modified: "2023-04-06" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/drone-video-battle-orcas-whales" categories: - "Drones" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "marine mammals" - "ocean" - "the digest" - "whales" --- # Drone Video Captures Furious Battle Between Orcas and Gray Whales ![A drone captured an incredibly rare — and anxiety-inducing — sight: a pod of 30 killer Orca whales hunting two full-grown gray whales in a five-hour battle.]() *\Image: Monterey Bay Whale Watch via Facebook / Futurism\* ## Ocean Battlefield On Thursday, a Monterey Bay Whale Watch drone captured an incredibly rare — and anxiety-inducing — sight: a pod of 30 killer whales hunting two full-grown gray whales in an epic, five-hour battle. "Five hours of an attack by over two dozen Bigg's killer whales on two adult gray whales, and an attempted predation — which was unsuccessful!" the whale watching company captioned the [five-hour long video](), which was posted to Facebook over the weekend. (Fair warning, parts of the video are a bit graphic.) Though Orcas are much smaller than adult gray whales — the latter [clock in]() at 40 tons and 49 feet in length on average, while the former are about half that size — it's not uncommon for them to prey on gray whale calves. However, it's far less common for killer whales to attack not just one, but *two* full-grown grays. "Usually killer whales will hunt gray whale calves as they head up to their northern feeding areas with their moms," the Facebook caption continued. "But these were not calves: they were huge adult gray whales!" While it's a shocking display of violence, it's a rare spectacle that could shed light on the hunting behavior of some of the biggest mammals on Earth. ## Bruised and Battered At this point, if you're stressed about the plight of the whales, there's some good news: both of the whales survived, eventually making their way to shallow water, causing the Orcas to break off. The bad news? According to [*Insider*](), Monterey Bay Whale Watch marine biologists suggested that the whales were badly hurt, as blood was visible in the water during parts of the video. Even so, as they told *Insider*, the video provides rare insight into the "unique hunting strategies of the pod" as well as the "rarely seen defensive strategies of the two grays." It could also shed a bit of light on the state of the Monterey Bay food web; when animals are hunting prey that they usually wouldn't hunt otherwise, it's a likely sign that their regular food sources are in short supply. ## Anti-Orca Club It's safe to say that most Facebook users weren't on the Orca pod's side. "Congrats to the grays for standing their ground and holding off that attack," one Facebook commenter wrote, "I'm sure everyone was exhausted!" **More on ocean animals:**[ *Officials Say It's Fine That Millions of Fish Suddenly Died in This River*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()