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Por que o predador mais letal dos oceanos se recusa a nos matar — Transcript

by Kairus · 2,601 words · 416 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:03This very creature is the perfect
0:05representation of a true ocean predator
0:08. At the top of the marine food chain,
0:13the most admirable biological killing
0:15machine that nature has refined over
0:17centuries. Capable of facing some of
0:20the most powerful and imposing animals
0:22on the planet, making great white
0:23sharks look like little rubber toys.
0:26And recently, individuals of this same
0:28species have even been involved in
0:30accidents with vessels off the coast of
0:32Europe. Now imagine the following scene
0:38: you are in the open ocean, diving,
0:40and you spot this exact animal just
0:42described coming toward you. However,
0:45the moment it gets close to you, to
0:48your surprise, it seems to act in a
0:50curious, calm, and almost gentle way.
0:54And this behavior is extremely
0:56intriguing, because in the ocean a
0:58human being would be an absurdly
1:00vulnerable prey. A single bite or a
1:03headbutt from this animal could cause
1:05devastating damage and theoretically
1:07turn us into one of the easiest meals
1:09of its day. There are documented cases
1:13where, instead of being hostile, they
1:15supposedly scared away sharks that were
1:17swimming near humans, creating
1:18situations that to our eyes may look
1:20like a form of protection. The fact is
1:24that there has never been a single
1:25record of these creatures hunting or
1:27consuming humans in the wild. However,
1:30why would a natural hunting machine,
1:32with every capacity to annihilate us,
1:34simply cross humans off its menu?
1:38Perhaps the most obvious answer is to
1:41think that orcas are simply friendly
1:43animals. But observing what happens
1:45when an orca finds something it
1:47actually considers prey can help
1:49differentiate this image humans have of
1:52them. The great white shark is
1:59certainly one of several reasons why
2:00someone might be afraid of the open sea
2:02or of swimming in regions where this
2:04species is present. However, they are
2:09considerably easy prey for orcas. For
2:13several years, marine biologists were
2:15perplexed by the carcasses of various
2:17great white sharks found off the coast
2:19of South Africa, practically intact,
2:21except for the fact that their bellies
2:23were torn open and their livers missing
2:25. They were victims of pods of orcas
2:28that, through successive attacks,
2:30learned that when they flipped the
2:31sharks upside down, they would enter
2:33tonic immobility. It is a temporary
2:36state of paralysis in which the animal
2:38remains motionless with relaxed muscles
2:40when turned belly up. and unable to
2:42breathe, which caused them to drown.
2:46The orcas took advantage of this
2:48vulnerability and, like a torpedo of
2:50flesh, would strike the shark's flank,
2:52lacerating exactly where the organ was
2:54located and abandoning what remained of
2:56it. The interest in the shark's liver
3:00is its huge store of oil and heavy fat,
3:03like squalene, which makes for a very
3:05caloric meal. Eating only the liver
3:08consumes less time and energy than
3:10devouring the shark's entire
3:12cartilaginous body. This way of preying
3:15is so brutal that in other regions,
3:17like Australia, feared great white
3:19sharks completely abandon their
3:21territories indefinitely as soon as
3:23they spot any sign of orcas. The
3:27sickest part about this isn't that they
3:28killed for fun, there's no way to
3:30confirm something like that. But rather
3:33the fact that they turned the ocean's
3:35most feared predator into a totally
3:37disposable carcass. However, another
3:43example of orca supremacy is their
3:44ability to take down blue whales, the
3:46largest animal to ever exist,
3:48surpassing any other in size and weight
3:50. In 2019 and 2021, at Bremer Bay in
3:54Western Australia, scientists witnessed
3:56and recorded groups of orcas
3:58systematically attacking adult blue
4:00whales. They organized themselves like
4:03a highly trained military unit. The
4:06strongest individuals took turns
4:08swimming over the blue whale's blowhole
4:10to suffocate it, while others bit its
4:12sides and specifically targeted its
4:14tongue. If they can do this to a
4:19species that is clearly more capable
4:20and difficult to take down, why do they
4:22continue to ignore humans? The truth is
4:25that, in their case, it's not just
4:27about eating. When you imagine a super
4:33predator, it's normal to think it will
4:35feed on any animal it can subdue.
4:38However, with orcas, it doesn't work
4:39that way. In the North Pacific,
4:42different populations of orcas may
4:44share the same waters and yet have
4:46completely distinct habits. Some, known
4:50as residents, feed mainly on fish,
4:52especially salmon. Biggs or transient
4:56orcas prefer seals, porpoises, and
4:58various marine mammals. And the curious
5:03thing is that an orca specialized in
5:04fish may pass by several seals without
5:06even trying to hunt them. Likewise, an
5:09orca accustomed to hunting mammals may
5:11simply ignore a school of salmon. And
5:14there is no physical difference that
5:16prevents one of them from eating the
5:17other's food. What really changes is
5:20what each group has learned to
5:21recognize as food. From a young age,
5:29orcas observe their mothers and learn
5:31routes, hunting strategies, and which
5:33animals to pursue, but also which to
5:36ignore. As time goes on, these habits
5:38become traditions passed down through
5:40generations. In other words, a hungry
5:43orca doesn't roam the ocean looking for
5:45just anything that has meat. It looks
5:48for what its culture has taught it to
5:49recognize as prey. To one family, a
5:53seal might mean food. To others, it
5:55might just be another animal sharing
5:57the same space.
5:58Hey, buddy, what do you want from me?
6:00And as far as we know, no orca
6:01population has developed a consistent
6:03tradition of hunting humans for food.
6:06That could be part of the answer to
6:09this question. Orcas wouldn't just
6:11improvise anything into their diet,
6:13simply because it’s in front of them.
6:15However, that wouldn't be definitive.
6:17Actually, that wouldn't be the main
6:19reason. Even without being taught not
6:24to hunt humans, seen from underwater, a
6:27human swimming could easily be mistaken
6:29for a seal. Even so, orcas seem to know
6:32perfectly well that we are not their
6:34prey. Sharks might confuse us, but why
6:37don't orcas do the same? In truth, they
6:42don't rely only on vision to understand
6:44what is around them. Sound also plays
6:47an important role in how they identify
6:49and interpret what they find in the
6:51ocean. They produce sounds that travel
6:54through the water and bounce off
6:56whatever they encounter. The returning
6:58echo provides information about
7:00distance, movement, size, and structure
7:01. It wouldn't necessarily be perfect
7:05X-ray vision showing them every organ
7:07and everything that makes up the body
7:09in front of them, but it allows them to
7:10get much more information than just a
7:12silhouette seen from afar. Some orcas
7:17can detect a single fish from over 100
7:19meters away, even in dark waters.
7:21That's why, when approaching a surfer,
7:23they would hardly be confused. Our
7:26shapes and movements and even the echo
7:28our bodies produce are different from
7:31other marine mammals. So, as of now, we
7:34know that besides not being on the
7:36orcas 'menu, we are also easily
7:38identified. And it's practically almost
7:41impossible to be mistaken through the
7:43biological radiography of these animals
7:45.
7:45Hey, pal.
7:46However, instead of answering questions
7:48, it creates another one. If we aren't
7:50part of their diet, and they clearly
7:52know that, why do they also kill
7:54animals that aren't part of their
7:56standard food source? The truth is that
8:00orcas are treated by many as the most
8:02psychopathic animals in nature. That is
8:05no exaggeration. Orcas are often called
8:09psychopaths due to their highly
8:11strategic, cold, and sometimes
8:13seemingly cruel hunting behaviors.
8:17There are records of orcas tossing
8:19seals with their tails, just for
8:21entertainment. They may chase a
8:24porpoise for hours for no apparent
8:25reason, then show it off among
8:27different members of their own group
8:29and continue manipulating the body even
8:31after it's dead. One study followed 78
8:35cases over decades in which southern
8:37resident orcas harassed porpoises. In
8:4028 of them, the porpoise died but was
8:43not consumed. Researchers consider
8:46several possibilities: play, hunting
8:49practice, or even misdirected care
8:51behavior, but to this day, they have
8:54not reached a concrete conclusion about
8:56these behaviors. Seal pups have also
9:00been found apparently being killed more
9:02than necessary, when more animals are
9:04killed than the predator needs to
9:06consume. One possible explanation is
9:09that adults use real prey to train the
9:10younger ones. Looking at it from this
9:13perspective, it would clearly be an act
9:15of cruelty. However, the common
9:18explanation for these excess kills
9:19would be the elders teaching the
9:21younger ones in practice how to hunt.
9:25On the coast of Argentina, some orcas
9:27charge onto the beach to capture sea
9:29lion pups and then use the receding
9:30waves to return to the sea. Mothers
9:35practice this technique with their
9:36calves for years, because one mistake
9:38can leave them stranded. In Antarctica,
9:41several orcas swim together toward a
9:43seal on the ice and create a wave that
9:45knocks it into the water. They can
9:49repeat the process, adjusting the force
9:51to the size of the ice floes. Another
9:54bizarre behavior of a group of orcas
9:56was widely discussed at the time it
9:57occurred. In July of this year, in the
10:01Gulf of California, one orca held the
10:03carcass of a sunfish, while another
10:04collided heavily against it, making the
10:06sunfish explode, fragmenting in every
10:08direction. And then a calf started
10:12eating the loose pieces of the fish.
10:15Researchers explained it from two
10:17different perspectives. The first, that
10:19it would be an easy way to deal with
10:21difficult prey and feed the younger
10:22ones. And the second, they did not rule
10:25out the possibility of it being a
10:27recreational event or for pure
10:29entertainment. It is obvious that one
10:32cannot diagnose an orca as a psychopath
10:34. After all, this term belongs only to
10:36human psychology. However, what can be
10:39understood from all this is that the
10:41extraordinary capacity and intelligence
10:43of these animals separate simple
10:45hunting behavior itself from the true
10:47act of feeding. An orca can kill to eat
10:51, to practice. to teach, and even as a
10:55simple game among their own kind.
10:58However, there are other possibilities
11:00for orca interaction with humans to be
11:02cordial.
11:06Between 1840 and 1930, wild orcas from
11:09the Eden region of New South Wales
11:11apparently cooperated with whalers.
11:14This case was real and is known to this
11:16day as the Eden orcas. The dynamic
11:19would have been more or less like this.
11:21The orcas would find larger whales at
11:23sea, chase them, and surround these
11:25animals. And according to local reports
11:27, some would come close to the coast to
11:29get the attention of the whalers.
11:31Humans would then go out in boats to
11:33hunt the whales. They would then leave
11:36the carcass for a while so the orcas
11:38could eat mainly the tongue and lips
11:40before the whalers claimed the rest of
11:42the carcass. This agreement became
11:46known as the Law of the Tongue. The
11:49most famous orca in that group was a
11:51male named Old Tom. He became so
11:54well-known that his skeleton is
11:55preserved in the Eden museum, with
11:57accounts of this mutual cooperation
11:59long before the era of European whaling
12:02industries. In the Spanish book
12:07released this year, *The Secret of the
12:09Orcas*, biologist Fernando Lopes
12:10proposes the existence of an ancient
12:12agreement called the Margin Pact. His
12:14theory suggests that thousands of years
12:17ago, humans and orcas may have
12:18collaborated during the migration of
12:20bluefin tuna near the Strait of
12:22Gibraltar. The orcas would chase the
12:24schools of fish and drive them into
12:25shallow waters. Right there, humans
12:28with their nets and tools would wait,
12:30and both would get food as the two
12:32species hunted from opposite sides of
12:33the shore. There is not enough evidence
12:37to claim that this pact happened
12:39exactly in that way. The book presents
12:41a hypothesis and not a conclusion
12:43accepted by the scientific community.
12:45However, just as the Law of the Tongue
12:47agreement existed, it is not something
12:49entirely dismissible or merely
12:50interpretive. The correlation of these
12:56facts with the lack of orca aggression
12:58toward us could be seen as something
12:59passed down from generation to
13:00generation by these animals. As
13:03mentioned before, just as they pass on
13:05their culture, hunting methods, and
13:07everything relevant to their offspring,
13:09this companionship with humans from
13:11long ago could be remembered even today
13:13. After all, an orca's life expectancy
13:16is 50 to 80 years, with females living
13:19even longer than males, potentially
13:21reaching over 90 years. So, there may
13:24eventually still be individuals that
13:26have lived through these experiences
13:27with humans, and their memory of this
13:29cooperation with our species would
13:31still be fresh. However, there is
13:33something that also raises a brief
13:35question. After all, the human
13:38relationship with orcas is not as
13:40wonderful as it was just made out to be
13:41. After all, humans also hunted orcas.
13:47It was not just a bed of roses. Even
13:50though they were not slaughtered with
13:51the same frequency as sperm whales—
13:53after all, orcas are not whales—they
13:55also suffered in past times. The way
13:58they were hunted was extreme and brutal
14:00. After all, whalers used to
14:02specifically target the calves, sinking
14:04harpoons into their backs but keeping
14:06them alive in the water, as they knew
14:08that under no circumstances would the
14:10mother or the group abandon a calf
14:12crying in the water. When the other
14:15orcas swam in to try to save the calf,
14:17the whalers would massacre their entire
14:19family. So here the dilemma would be:
14:25which of these two human behaviors is
14:27passed on by them? The cooperative and
14:30mutual way the two species had to
14:32achieve the best for both, or the
14:34monstrous practices whalers engaged in
14:36when they were the targets of a hunt?
14:39The truth is that the explanation might
14:41be simpler than it seems. Orcas don't
14:43need to choose to spare us because they
14:46probably never saw us as prey. And that
14:48difference changes everything. We
14:54imagine a powerful animal capable of
14:56attacking us at any moment, but which
14:58decides not to do so. But perhaps that
15:01decision doesn't even exist. When
15:03encountering a human, an orca may
15:05simply not associate them with food. To
15:07them, we may belong to another category
15:09, something unusual and vulnerable, but
15:12which awakens more curiosity than
15:14hunting instinct. We don't necessarily
15:16survive out of kindness, but perhaps
15:18because we never entered their
15:20repertoire of prey. Orcas learn,
15:22recognize patterns, and pass behaviors
15:24on between generations. Therefore, one
15:27possibility is that no known population
15:30has developed a tradition of hunting
15:32humans. And to them, we simply aren't
15:35food. The theory in the Spanish
15:38biologist's book and the events with
15:40the Eden whalers suggest that we might
15:43not just be discarded prey, but a
15:45species classified long ago as neutral,
15:47familiar, or even useful to them. We
15:50have no way to confirm this theory, but
15:53the contrast is striking. With other
15:55animals, orcas can use extremely
15:57violent strategies. With humans,
15:59however, the behavior is usually much
16:02more curious. They are not protectors
16:04of the ocean, nor killers that attack
16:06everything around them. Their behavior
16:08is much more complex. They are
16:10extremely intelligent predators,
16:12influenced by the group, by learning,
16:14and by the environment. Perhaps we are
16:17simply too strange to be seen as food.
16:21Or following a more intriguing
16:22hypothesis. Maybe there is something
16:24familiar in the way they recognize us.
16:28Who knows if, when looking at a human,
16:30an orca doesn't see just a stranger,
16:32but the echo of an ancient relationship
16:34, a species that once cooperated with
16:36us to obtain food and live peacefully,
16:38or, in the worst of cases, those who
16:40were responsible for their greatest
16:42suffering.

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