Killer whales are highly intelligent, extremely powerful
and they hunt in packs -
a lethal combination that makes them the most formidable predators.
Using state-of-the-art photography and computer images modelled on real footage,
this film reveals new insights
into the lives of these majestic ocean hunters.
Up to 7m long and 6 tonnes in weight,
killer whales are capable of extreme violence.
But they can also display great gentleness.
This is Shamu -
star of the the SeaWorld Aquarium in San Diego, California.
The whale show puts the trainers in exactly the same situation as a killer whale's prey.
No other predator would tolerate this. We KNOW they can be deadly.
There is no greater contrast between the hunters of the wild
and SeaWorld's gentle star.
So which is the real killer whale?
Do they have a Jekyll and Hyde personality?
Or are some killer whales more violent than others?
To discover their true nature,
we need to piece together the results of several studies.
To do that, we need to span the globe because, next to humans,
killer whales are the most widespread mammals on earth.
Our journey begins in the southern Indian Ocean in the Crozet Islands -
2,000 miles south-east of Cape Town.
The islands are sustained by rich Antarctic waters
and are a wildlife paradise.
They're home to a population of killer whales
who've developed a taste for birds.
The sea water here is crystal clear,
making Crozet one of the best places to observe killer whales.
Killer whales live in small social groups.
These ones have been studied for years.
Scientists know each one by name.
This four-year-old calf is called Junior.
Even at his age, young killer whales join in hunting expeditions.
They're encouraged to watch and learn.
There's a close bond between mothers and their offspring.
This matri-line is the core of killer whales' society.
It's a caring society,
but not to its prey - king penguins.
There are plenty of penguins here,
but they're fast swimmers - hard to catch in the open sea.
So the whales patrol the shallow waters looking for opportunities.
These are large birds weighing 13 kilos -
a good meal for a killer whale.
At times like this, the safest place is out of the water.
But killer whales are smart. They watch for birds by spy-hopping.
The penguins WILL have to go back in the water.
The whales are waiting.
The hunt is on!
By adding computer images to the live action,
we can re-create the whale's strategy.
In deeper water the penguins can twist and turn.
The whales use a surprising tactic.
They let the penguins head for shore, towards the safety of the beach.
It's a gamble. If the penguins get ashore, the whales will go hungry.
Shallow water reduces the penguin's room for manoeuvre.
The backwash slows them down as the killer whale powers in to kill.
The whales have targeted the penguins at precisely the moment when the birds are most vulnerable.
Hunting penguins in the shallows is a huge risk.
Here, the whales are vulnerable.
The slightest mistake could leave the whales stranded
to face a slow, painful death.
Hunting in the surf isn't natural for killer whales.
It's a skill they must learn.
This mother is teaching her daughter, Delphine, the technique.
First she pushes her onto the beach.
Then she helps her refloat.
Each lesson gives the youngster a little more confidence.
As Delphine grows,
she will master the skill and will catch her own prey in the surf zone.
The pickings are good for those who learn to hunt in the surf.
We have a word for behaviour like this, passed from one to another -
culture.
It seems that culture also plays a major part in killer whale life.
Young whales learn not only how to hunt penguins, but how to eat them.
The trick is to squeeze the body out of its feathery envelope.
All that remains is an empty penguin wrapper.
For killer whales every feeding opportunity requires skill,
intelligence and co-operation.
It is clear that these animals are very adaptable.
Sometimes whales have to cope with special conditions, like the surf.
Other times it's their prey's behaviour that is the challenge.
This is Norway - 8,000 miles to the north on the Arctic Circle.
There are no penguins in these waters, so the resident killer whales have a different diet.
It's the breeding season for herring,
which migrate from the North Atlantic into the Norwegian fjords.
The herring boats are waiting, as are the whales.
It's not much of a contest for a big, fast killer whale
to catch a small herring.
For a 6 tonne whale, one herring is like a cocktail shrimp to us -
good food, but it takes a lot to fill you up.
There is a way to make it all worthwhile - bulk fishing!
That requires a different technique from the Crozet penguin hunters.
Here the key to hunting success is co-operation.
By adding computer images to the action we can see how it works.
Working as a team, the whales surround their quarry.
They roll over, flashing their white bellies to scare the fish.
The herring bunch together for protection.
The whale's strategy is to force the herring upwards, trapping them against the water's surface.
As they rise, the herring release air bubbles for buoyancy.
Amongst the blizzard of bubbles - the sound of killer whale calls.
WHALE CALLS
Below, the pod is working the herring shoal,
rounding them up, pushing them to the surface.
This technique is called carousel feeding.
With the herring surrounded and tightly bunched together, the whales are ready to make their next move.
Massive tail-slaps stun the fish.
There will be plenty to go round.
This elegant feeding ballet is set to the whales' own music.
These sounds are full of meaning.
WHALE CALLS
Scientists can distinguish over 20 different calls within this pod's repertoire.
Communication is the key cultural feature of these whales.
They chatter frequently.
WHALES CALL
Within a pod, each killer whale can recognise all of its neighbours' voices, even at a distance.
Sound travels well in water,
so killer whale contact calls can be heard at least ten miles away.
Each pod has specific calls which aren't used by other pods.
Like humans, killer whales can recognise foreigners by speech.
Killer whales don't inherit their language, they learn it.
At first, a newborn whale can only make baby talk.
Its mother repeats particular calls and, as it grows up,
the calf builds its own repertoire.
It's not very different from the way human babies learn their language.
This is the first stage of the young whale's cultural initiation.
Its first step to a unique identity.
There's something else killer whales can do with their voices. Something we've just learned to exploit -
sonar.
Sonar allows fishing boats to find and follow the shoals.
Killer whales' sonar allows them to keep their prey under surveillance
in darkness or murky water.
Fishermen and killer whales have shared these waters for centuries.
Up until the mid-1900s, the whales always scooped the fishermen.
They were faster than boats and better at finding the fish.
All that changed when people discovered sonar.
Now the boats were able to turn the whales' technique against them.
For a short time, the whales were out-competed by the fishermen.
But that didn't last for long.
Soon the whales understood that the behaviour of the boats was a useful guide in finding the herring.
And because they don't need cumbersome nets, the whales can get in quick, ahead of the competition.
In a changing world, killer whales have learned to modify their culture to stay ahead of the game.
This ability to adapt to situations and learn new behaviours
is what makes killer whales so successful.
It's only when whales compete with people
that we appreciate their intelligence and resourcefulness.
Here's another example of whales outsmarting people
in the Mediterranean.
On the receiving end is another prized fishing industry.
Not herring this time, but giant bluefin tuna.
A fish this big will net the crew at least $2,000.
The boats are following a long tradition.
Every summer, bluefin tuna migrate to the Atlantic Ocean.
Each year the fishermen wait.
And so do the killer whales.
Concrete blocks take the bait down to 200m,
because tuna swim very deep as well as fast.
With the line paid out, the crew can only wait and hope.
And watch the whales.
MAN SHOUTS ORDERS
A fish is hooked.
The sound of the winch is a signal to the waiting whales.
The fishermen work fast to bring in the line.
The whales simply bide their time.
As the fish nears the boat, all the fight has gone out of it.
It's as easy a meal as a whale could hope for.
The whales can strip the tuna in minutes.
All that remains for the fishermen are leftovers.
This piracy on the high seas does nothing for the whales' popularity.
This is too good an opportunity for them to miss.
These killer whales began stealing this way around 30 years ago.
Now the culture has spread among all the members of two local pods.
The boats don't stand a chance.
Scientists have discovered
that killer whales don't all behave in the same way.
Some are more inclined to share their food.
Others are selfish and keep their food to themselves.
It seems that, like us, each killer whale has an unique personality.
While hunting defenceless herring or tethered tuna might seem easy,
not all fish are so defenceless.
Here off the coast of New Zealand, the rich waters attract
squadrons of stingrays.
Compared to other killer whale prey, like Crozet's fast penguins,
these rays are like sitting ducks.
At first sight, the stingray looks an easy target,
but it has a secret weapon -
a sharp spike on its tail which can deliver an agonising poison.
The whales will have to take care.
The ray has been spotted.
The whales have a special strategy for catching stingrays.
Unlike chasing penguins or rounding up herring,
this is a game of cat and mouse.
The fish has one advantage over the whales.
It doesn't need air.
Once it goes to ground, the ray can stay as long as it likes.
The whales have no hope of flushing it out. Instead, they move away.
With the coast clear, the ray leaves its shelter and heads to shallower water.
Not the smartest of moves.
It's what the whales are waiting for.
Stingrays are a favourite prey of these whales, but they take their time finishing it off.
This hunt seems more of a social event.
Once the ray nears the surface, the advantage moves to the whales.
It's in a vulnerable position, where they can attack
without risk of getting stung.
In the end, the ray is outmanoeuvred, outsmarted and outdone.
10,000 miles to the west in Argentina
are the world's most famous killer whales.
It's April, and in the sea lion colony at Punta Norte,
the pups are almost full grown.
As Mum basks on the beach,
her offspring is learning to swim, playing in the surf.
This could be a sea lion heaven.
There's a good beach and plenty of fish in the sea.
However, the whales didn't come here for the fish.
The sea lions know the killer whales are out there,
but they can't stay on land forever.
Mother's milk is running out. It's time her baby got seafood.
And there's only one place to get that -
in whale-infested waters.
The killer whales come here each year at exactly this time.
You might say it's a tradition.
The sea lions have a problem.
They don't know where the whales are. It's unsafe to enter the surf.
The sea is always cloudy.
That can favour an ambush or it can help the sea lions go unnoticed.
The whales have an advantage - to get in or out of the sea,
the sea lions must pass the same narrow stretch of surf.
For that brief period, the whales know exactly where they are.
The whales patrol deep water,
but their hunting style differs from their fish-eating cousins.
Sea lions have very good hearing.
Any sound the whales make gives their position away.
This is a silent operation.
The whales keep calls to a minimum.
Their behaviour is wary, cautious...
almost sinister.
The sea lions have one strategy for the dangerous crossing -
do it as fast as possible.
Even if they reach the surf, they're still not safe.
Like their cousins in the Crozet Islands,
these killer whales have developed their hunting in the surf.
The captured sea lion is carried to deeper water.
There's no escape.
Many predators play with their victims.
There's no doubt this brutal game helps the whale's hunting skills.
The tail fluke is a killer whale's secret weapon.
Such a specialised killing technique
takes time to perfect.
Hunting sea lions is a cultural tradition,
based on knowledge and experience, taught by each generation.
However, not all cultural traditions are about catching prey.
This pod, near British Columbia, has been studied for 30 years.
It's one of the best known groups of whales in the world.
In a few special places,
these killer whales come right inshore, not for food,
but for a bit of pampering.
It happens in just two small coves
with beaches composed of coarse, even-sized pebbles.
Just what a whale needs for a good body rub.
PEBBLES CLASH
Beach-rubbing has a long tradition. Older whales, often females,
show the youngsters how it's done.
As in elephants and humans,
female killer whales live well beyond the menopause -
often 30 years after the birth of their last calf.
The older, more experienced whales
are keepers of the pod's hard-earned knowledge.
They know the geography of this coast intimately.
Without them, the younger whales would be all at sea.
But the beach-rubbing pod isn't alone in these waters.
There are other killer whales who visit the area - strangers who behave in a different fashion.
They make hardly any sound.
The strangers cohabit the same inshore waters,
yet live separate lifestyles and never mix.
They don't share the same dialect.
It's as if they belong to a different species or at least a different tribe.
The outsiders live a nomadic life and are known to scientists as transients,
to distinguish them from the beach-rubbing residents.
Transient killer whales occur along the west coast of North America. They're great travellers.
The north Pacific waters of Alaska are a rich fishing ground for whales, big and small.
Out here in the open ocean, there is no cover for a large predator.
Nor for its prey.
These are Dahl's porpoises.
Transient killer whales have little interest in fish.
Their culture is about big game hunting.
Porpoises are high on the menu.
Dahl's porpoise has a top speed of 35mph.
Killer whales are slower, but they can keep their top speed of 30mph for longer.
This type of hunt is about speed and co-operation.
The hunters close in on their prey.
A sudden eruption of noise announces the kill.
It's as if the whales are celebrating.
Not much remains of the porpoise after the whales are through.
Killer whales don't just target prey smaller than themselves.
Off the coast of California, a grey whale and her baby are in danger.
Once again, computer images give the underwater view of an extraordinary hunt.
The grey whale calf is a few weeks old.
It's following its mother towards the feeding grounds in Alaska.
They've reached Monterey Bay, where a deep trench cuts in from the sea.
As they move beyond the trench wall, the grey whales lose their cover.
In the bay, the killer whales are listening for that telltale sound - the breathing of a grey whale.
Immediately, their behaviour changes.
The killers close ranks like a hunting wolf pack.
The killer whales have caught up with the mother and calf.
And now the chase is on.
The grey whales try to out-swim their attackers.
Fast swimming pushes up the grey whales' breathing rate.
A breathless calf is easier to catch.
The killers work as a team.
Their first goal is to separate the baby from its mother.
The grey whale mother is a formidable adversary.
She could harm a killer whale
with one slap of her tail fluke.
One of the attackers pushes between mother and calf.
The strategy is working.
The grey whales are forced apart.
With the baby separated, the killer whales change strategy.
Their goal is to drown the calf.
The killer whales take turns to attack.
One head-butts the baby whale. That's 6 tonnes of force powering into the calf.
It's a titanic struggle that continues for almost six hours.
With all hope lost, the mother grey whale must leave her stricken calf.
The killers are left to feed.
After all that effort, only the grey whale's tongue
and part of its jaw is eaten.
It seems as if the hunt was an end in itself.
A masterclass in killing technique rather than a quest for food.
After what we've just seen,
diving with wild killer whales might seem extremely reckless.
This is Tysfjord in Norway.
For years, a local dive operator has been offering tourists a unique encounter with wild killer whales.
Up till now, there has been no aggression from the whales.
Nor even an accident.
Yet we've seen that some killer whales target mammals as their prey.
Humans are much the same size as sea lions and much easier targets.
If killer whales were purely opportunistic predators,
a slow-moving snorkeller would be the easiest prey.
A big shark would bite first and then decides if it likes the taste.
Why don't killer whales do the same?
Do they simply not recognise us as potential food?
Or are they scared of us?
They're not behaving that way.
There is one likely answer to these questions.
Which takes us back to Shamu in San Diego.
Indeed, there's an interesting connection between Shamu and the Norwegian killer whales.
A cultural connection.
Like most captive killer whales, Shamu's family are fish-eaters.
Shamu's group happens to like fish.
But could they develop a taste for sea lions, dolphins,
whales or even humans?
But that underestimates the powerful force of culture in killer whale life.
Shamu's group simply has no interest in hunting mammals.
Fish-eating is a specialised lifestyle -
passed on within a particular family from one generation to the next.
Mammal-hunting killer whales have their own distinct traditions.
They don't interbreed with fish-eaters.
In killer whale society, as in our own,
identity is defined by whom you mix with.
Whales from different backgrounds behave differently.
There is no Jekyll and Hyde personality.
It seems the gentle Shamu IS different from the mammal hunters of the open ocean.
A marine mammal that shares a great deal in common with her human admirers.
A whale with a culture.
Subtitles by Gillian Clarke BBC Broadcast 2003
E- mail us at subtitling@bbc. co. uk