Dramatic raw footage of NOAA researchers tagging orcas with cross bows (killer whales) in Antarctica
I took these incredible shots while accompanying whale researchers who are doing excellent work in helping whales by tagging, cataloging, and studying the killer whales in Antarctica. (Viewing in HD recommended) Arrows are used to attach GPS based location tags to the dorsal fins and as you can see the whales do not react to it. I imagine its similar to a human getting their ears pieced. Tags stay in place for about a month before falling off and help track the whales migration patterns. Biopsy arrows on the other hand collect a tiny sample of blubber on the hollow tip of the arrow to help scientists determine their nutrition, health and diet. Every arrow used is accounted for under strict permits and regulations.
This research has shown the population of the Ross Sea whales are declining. They normally feed off the Antarctic Toothfish which is a large fish which has been over-harvested by commercial fishing. However, during this filming, these whales were seen feeding off a very small fish, the bourke fish as the toothfish were no longer present. For the whales to be expending all the energy just to hunt for bourke fish is like us hunting for a single grain of rice. Please see the film The Last Ocean www.lastocean.org and help by not consuming their prey, marketed as the Chilean sea bass (toothfish) in restaurants.
Lastly, it seems a lot of Youtube whale experts think the whales are stuck in the ice. They are not. They are in one of many holes in the lead and we are very close to the open sea.