“Intentional Stranding by Mammal-Hunting Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca) in the Salish Sea”, 2020 (; backlinks; similar):
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cooperative apex predators that have been documented foraging on a wide array of prey, ranging from small schooling fish to large cetaceans. Foraging strategies of killer whales that hunt marine mammals are complex and vary globally.
A high-risk and specialized form of killer whale foraging behavior is known as intentional stranding. During this foraging behavior, members of a group of killer whales deliberately direct themselves towards pinniped prey, accelerate towards the shore, and become temporarily stranded on their ventral surface in the surf zone.
In Patagonia, along the shores of the Peninsula Valdéz, a small population of killer whales exhibit intentional stranding by using channels between reefs and steeply sloping beaches to partially beach themselves to capture southern sea lions and southern elephant seals.
Intentional stranding has also been documented by killer whales on Possession Island in the Crozet Archipelago in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean. Unlike the steep beaches of Peninsula Valdéz, the two prominent beaches on Possession Island where killer whales use intentional stranding have a low grade slope. Southern elephant seals are their primary prey in this region.
[Keywords: archipelagoes, fish, predators, whales & whaling, foraging behavior, animal behavior, marine mammals, beaches, hunting, prey, seals (animals), shoreline protection, dolphins, shores, foraging behavior, stranding, seals, predation, surf zone, slopes, sea lions, aquatic mammals, cetacea, Orcinus Orca, Mirounga]