Puerto Lopez tour operators are worried about the attack of a group of killer whales to a juvenile humpback whale that caused his death on last July 28. Cristina Castro, representative of the Pacific Whale Foundation, said that in addition to the deceased whale, a second juvenile humpback whale suffered injuries.
Castro said the orcas arrived in groups of three to reduce the forces of the humpback whale, measuring about 10 meters long, according to the tour operator Angel Pincay.
“He told me that he observed that an orca passed near his boat and then remnants of whale meat, but when I arrived and there was nothing, because the birds had eaten everything,” said the biologist, who recalled that in 1998 and 2002, orca attacks were also reported.
Whales arrive this season to the Ecuadorian coast to mate and reproduce, the passage of killer whales is considered a natural fact, but infrequent, said experts.
