Sperm whales vs. orcas: a battle fueled by…

We know that squids release black ink into the water to create a cloud that confuses predators—a strategy adopted by spies’ cars in James Bond films and even some military vehicles in real life. But, for the first time, this defence mechanism was observed in a group of sperm whales defending their young from a pod of orcas. Only, these large and intelligent cetaceans didn’t use ink but something far more humble and readily available: poop.

This surprising behaviour was first observed on 19th March 2024 by a team of marine biologists off the coast of Australia. The biologists filmed a large, dark red cloud appearing on the water’s surface where a group of sperm whales was being pursued by about thirty orcas. Initially, researchers thought it was blood from one of the young sperm whales attacked by the orcas. But after examining the footage, they realised it was actually liquid faeces. Not only that: the sperm whales defecated and then used their massive tails to fan out the faeces, creating a large, dark, and pungent cloud. Very dark and reddish because sperm whales mostly eat squid, which gives their faeces a dark red colour. Documented cases of orca attacks on sperm whales are rare, largely due to the size difference between the species. A sperm whale can reach up to 18 meters, while an orca’s maximum length is about 8 meters. For this reason, orcas primarily target young sperm whales. The sperm whales' faecal defence worked, and the orcas decided to move on—time for a change of scenery, or rather, waters.