Video: Three killer whales attack a sunfish in Mazunte, Oaxaca

2517

Crewmembers of a boat that travels the coasts of Oaxaca to do research on marine life, managed to capture the moment when a group of killer whales attack and eat a huge fish, known as mola mola or sunfish, off the coast of Mazunte.

The images show three killer whales that follow the sunfish, until, after biting it, they submerge it and disappear under the water.

According to researchers from the Universidad del Mar, the fact is striking, because it is rare to see killer whales on the Oaxacan coast, as well as specimens of the sunfish.

“It is a rare species to see and well, in addition to the event of the orcas feeding on this species, it is even rarer, I have not started to investigate, but I think there is no record of orcas feeding on sunfish and well lucky because we were able to document all that process, ”said Francisco Villegas Zurita, University of the Mar research professor.

In recent months, sightings of different marine species are increasingly common on the Oaxacan coast, but also more well-known and widespread, since, during the tourist tours that service providers take, it is possible to observe all this fauna.

Thus, along the more than 150 kilometers of distance in the sea, between Bahías de Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, you can commonly observe whales, turtles, sharks, killer whales, black killer whales, dolphins, manta rays, and a large number of specimens of different marine species.

For example, a boat also managed to document a group of killer whales, which only showed the fin, above the water, in the sea.

“There were several boats and we had to see how they practically crushed a turtle,” explained Carlos Jorge Ponce, captain of a tourist boat.

According to researchers from the Universidad del Mar, the increase in the number of sightings and marine specimens has nothing to do with population growth, but rather with a decrease in the temperature of the seawater, on the coasts of Oaxaca, which allows these species to spend more time in warmer waters.

Source, noticieros.televisa.com, oaxaca.quadratin.com.mx

The Oaxaca Post