Researchers have documented some orcas covering hundreds of kilometres at incredible speeds between long-line fishing vessels for a quick meal, during a new study monitoring the marine predator’s interaction with blue-eye trevalla fishers off South East Australia.
One particularly persistent killer whale swam more than 1,000 kilometres in 16 days and was repeatedly observed near the fishing vessels and gear – another whale swam more than 180 km over 18 hours.
The study published in Fisheries Research found within this link, combined acoustic detection devices on commercial fishing gear with photo identification of individual orcas. The aim of the research was to improve understanding of their behaviours and possibly develop new mitigation strategies to reduce both industry losses and potential harm to the whales from fishing gear.
