Rare footage: a photographer captured a killer whale that is more than 100 years old
Rare footage: a photographer captured a killer whale that is more than 100 years old

Video: Rare footage: a photographer captured a killer whale that is more than 100 years old

Video: Rare footage: a photographer captured a killer whale that is more than 100 years old
Video: Однажды в Одессе. Once upon a Time in Odessa. 2 Серия. Жизнь и приключения М. Япончика. StarMedia - YouTube 2024, November
Anonim
Orca, which is about 105 years old. Photo: Heather MacIntyre
Orca, which is about 105 years old. Photo: Heather MacIntyre

Looking at this majestic animal, jumping out of the depths of the blue ocean, at how gracefully and zealously it overcomes distances, it is difficult to guess how old it really is. But in fact, this is the oldest killer whale known to people - it is believed that she is 105 years old.

Today Jay-tu is the oldest killer whale known to people. Photo: Heather MacIntyre
Today Jay-tu is the oldest killer whale known to people. Photo: Heather MacIntyre

This killer whale has long been known to people, and it even got its own name - J2 (Jay-tu). The exact age of the killer whale is unknown, but it is assumed that 105 years is the most accurate, plus or minus 10 years. However, such a venerable age does not mean that the killer whale is going to "retire" - it is still energetic and sociable. Jay-Too was last spotted by photographer Heather MacIntyre off the coast of San Juan Island in Washington state. Jay-Too frolicked in the water with her foster children of the killer whale flock known as the "Jay pack."

There aren't that many killer whales left, so every shot is valuable. Photo: Heather MacIntyre
There aren't that many killer whales left, so every shot is valuable. Photo: Heather MacIntyre

This phenomenon is so remarkable because lately, unfortunately, the number of killer whales is getting smaller and smaller, and to see them like this, very close to a person is a really big event. “These moments are both joyful and sad at the same time, - says McIntyre. - These whales are dying out due to lack of food. People do not understand that if we continue to fish as well, as we do now, we will leave killer whales without food and they will never again. we'll see. In 20 years they'll all just die out."

A killer whale that is more than a hundred years old. Photo: Heather MacIntyre
A killer whale that is more than a hundred years old. Photo: Heather MacIntyre

Forty years ago, the population of killer whales in this area declined dramatically, as many aquariums took young animals in captivity to teach them tricks or just show them in aquariums. In captivity, killer whales usually do not live more than 30 years. Later, the US government partially banned this practice, but there are still many captive killer whales. The same individuals that remained in the ocean became victims of another human activity - fishing. The main diet of killer whales is chinook salmon, a type of salmon. If we compare the amount of chinook salmon with the time when Jay-tu was just born, then only 5% of chinook salmon now remain from that volume.

Jay-Tu last year off the coast of Canada. Photo: Gary Sutton
Jay-Tu last year off the coast of Canada. Photo: Gary Sutton

“We've lost 95 percent of the salmon, but they still continue to catch and sell it,” McIntyre says. “Plus, people have dams that prevent fish from migrating. This is actually a huge problem.” Jay-tu, with her incredible experience on where to find food, is very valuable to her pack. But this relationship also has a feedback - without its flock, it would be difficult for this killer whale to live today. And who knows how the circumstances will develop further.

Jay-tu and her flock. Photo: Heather MacIntyre
Jay-tu and her flock. Photo: Heather MacIntyre

In addition to the extermination of fish in the oceans, there is another problem - huge islands of plastic waste. Collecting such waste is very energy intensive and costs a lot of money. However, a 20-year-old Dutch student found solution to this problem - and it is so simple, elegant and, most importantly, budgetary that all the world's leading publications wrote about its invention.

Recommended: