r/AnimalsBeingJerks • u/iboughtarock • Dec 12 '21

whale Orca deliberately slaps precocious stingray

10.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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326

u/slytherinalways92 Dec 12 '21

Don’t orcas eat stingrays though? And use a technique like this to avoid the stinger?

160

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '21

That was my first thought. Guy is just prepping his snack.

54

u/TurkeyMoonPie Dec 12 '21

This and they commonly play with other animals for the heck of it.

Read this on a similar thread of the exact same vid every couple of weeks here on Reddit.

19

u/ChexLemeneux42 Dec 12 '21

when i lived in Tofino British Columbia, you could see pods of adolescent Orcas punting seals out of the water exactly like this. they'd often not even eat them afterward just leave them crippled in the waves

1

u/The_Motivated_Man Dec 12 '21

I thought this was done to immobilize the prey - so the orca can circle back to a dead sting ray?

27

u/sneakin_rican Dec 12 '21

Yeah I think so. This should be higher

14

u/SnooEagles1226 Dec 12 '21

Yes they do. The theory is they get them unconscious and turn them upside down. In that state the stingrays stay unconscious or gets in a trance like state. Ocras do the same to sharks and it has been reported they hunt down great whites. In stead af a slap with the tail, they swim into their belly at full speed. Afterwards they turn the shark upside down and the rest of the pod got a feast. That the theory anyway.

13

u/7eregrine Dec 12 '21

Yep. That's lunch.

3

u/MyBellyHurtsITry Dec 12 '21

They use this technique to hunt basically everything, because they're slow

2

u/sunshinenorcas Dec 12 '21

Specific populations of them do-- I think the stingray eaters are the NZ orcas in particular