Featured Image Credit: Seth Conae
By Jessica Kittel
While there’s no official definition of “national geographic moment,” it’s probably something along the lines of witnessing an amazing, epic, or extraordinary event; often of the nature or travel variety. GrindTV reported that diver and videographer Seth Conae claims to have had a National Geographic moment involving a group of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens). Based off his description of the event (not to mention the video he captured), the newly coined phrase definitely fits the situation.
While diving off the coast of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, Conae noticed a mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) circling a plastic bag that was floating in the water. Mahi-mahi means “very strong” in Hawaiian. These fish are also known as dorado and dolphinfish, and most importantly, they make excellent fish tacos.
Conae wasn’t the only one who noticed the mahi-mahi. Before long, a lone false killer whale joined him. False killer whales are actually a bit of a misnomer, they aren’t directly related to killer whales (Orcinus orca). One trait they do have in common with their namesake is that they aren’t technically whales, in fact, they’re a member of the dolphin family.
False killer whales are very sociable, even with boats and humans. According to us.whales.org, they’re known to bow ride and pop up above the surface to show off their (multiple and very sharp) teeth. They are usually found in large groups, their pods are sometimes made up of hundreds of individuals. They communicate with each other using sonar and sounds similar to those used by dolphins. Unfortunately, they are also one of the cetacean species known to be involved with mass strandings, as NOAA explains.
Smaller groups of false killer whales are often observed hunting cooperatively and sharing their spoils. This is what Conae was lucky enough to witness during his National Geographic moment.
The false killer whale that initially arrived on the scene assumingly called to his buddies and was joined by six others. Soon, they were all working in harmony to apprehend their prey.
Conae describes how one of the false killer whales slapped the mahi-mahi out of the water using its tail. This initial blow injured the fish and the other members of the pod took turns making passes at the wounded mahi-mahi until one of the false killer whales dove in to make the final coup de grâce.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Check out the video for yourself below: