Featured Image Credit: Peter Jucker
By Sarah Sharkey
Australian diver Scott Portelli was on a trip to the Polynesian island of Tonga when some unexpected visitors surprised him. False killer whales showed by and put on a show for Portelli and the other divers with him.
The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a large member of the dolphin family. Its body is long, slender and either black or dark grey. These animals are normally active, playful and curious about humans, and are found in tropical to warm temperate waters in three of the world’s oceans. The reason they are called false killer whales is that they sometimes attack and kill other marine mammals.
The diver was traveling to Tonga in search of humpback whales, but these false killer whales showed up out of the (literal) deep blue sea. Portelli had this to say of the experience, “We had an unexpected encounter with a large pod of false killer whales. This one interactive one came back and literally jumped over one of my guests. Never know what you are going to see in Tonga.”
The false killer whale caught on video jumped right over one of the divers just to show off its breathtaking abilities. These divers were definitely very lucky. Portelli said, “Sometimes when you are looking for humpbacks, you find false killer whales instead.”
You never know what you will find in the ocean, but that is why we all love it so much!