our oceans are constantly on the moon
rising and falling in a twice daily
rhythm that we know as
the tides
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everything that lives in the shallows
must adapt to the highs and lows
many even turn the tide to their
advantage
off the coast of the falkland islands
turbulent waters create rich feeding
grounds
attracting birds and marine mammals from
miles around
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and it’s here that a remarkable mother
orca has learned to hunt with the urban
flow of the south atlantic ocean
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she returns here every spring with her
family
timing their arrival with a much needed
source of food
young elephant seals
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for now the newborn seals are out of the
orca’s reach on the shore
gaining an incredible six kilograms a
day on their mother’s energy-rich milk
but sooner or later they must enter the
water
after weeks of fasting the mothers would
turn to the ocean to feed
never to see their pups again
left to fend for themselves
the young seals must learn to swim
here they do so in the safety of a
shallow tidal pool
protected from predators by a rocky
barrier
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also it seems
the rising tide breaches their nursery
creating a narrow inlet to the pool
and an opportunity for the intelligent
organ
she is thought to be the first of her
kind in the world to hunt seals in this
way
riding the tide she carefully enters
her young calf in tow
one false move and she risks stranding
them both
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with no parents to teach them the baby
seals are unaware of the danger
she is tantalizingly close
but the seals are too shallow to reach
as the tide begins to turn the mother
orca’s time is running out
oblivious to the whale below
a pup swims into reach
she strikes
the young seal puts up a fight
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taking the orca and her calf into
dangerously shallow waters
struggling off the rocks
she drags her prize back to her family
in the safety of the deep
the first walker in the world to master
this high-risk feeding strategy
she is passing this vital knowledge onto
her young
so they too can ride the rise and fall
of the oceans
a new generation of tidal hunters
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