[NEW WORDS]
♧ orca : = orc : 범고래 = killer whale
♧ feast on : v. ~을 마음껏 먹다, 마음껏 즐기다
♧ predator : n. 약탈자, 포식자
♧ take notice : ~에 주목하다, 유의하다
♧ feed on : v. ~을 먹이로 하다
♧ calf : n. (하마, 물소, 고래, 사슴 등의) 새끼
♧ migrate : v. 이주하다, 이동하다
♧ ram : v. 부딪치다, 격돌하다, 충돌하다
♧ wear A down : v. 피곤하게하다, 지치게하다
♧ upright : n. 수직의
♧ dapple : v. 얼룩지게하다
♧ cling : v. 달라붙다
♧ aquarium : n. 수족관
♧ until the very end and after : 최후까지, 끝까지
♧ shallow : a. 얕은, 천박한, 피상적인
Finally this evening, we're going to go to Monterey Bay, off California, to see something that we rarely see. There has been a baby boom of gray whales this year, and their natural predators have taken notice.
This is a drama that plays itself out every year. Gray whales, among the Pacific's gentler creatures, against killer whales, also called orcas, who feed on them.
"This year's been very unusual. There has been lots of mothers and calves, migrating north across the bay. And lots of killer whales have been coming in to take advantage of this pretty amazing opportunity."
Nancy Black has spent 17 years watching the giant mammals in Monterey Bay, California. In this video, shot from her boat, 17 orcas surround a mother gray whale and her baby, ramming them and biting them to wear them down.
You have to watch carefully. Whenever you see an upright fin, like that, that's a killer whale. The gray whales, like that, are more dappled, the mother and child clinging close together.
The mother and baby are bloodied and exhausted. The orcas can keep up their assault for hours.
Though biologists say orcas are the lion kings of the ocean, many of us think of the friendly performers at aquariums when we hear about them. The reality is more complicated.
Every spring, gray whales migrate from Baja, California, all the way to Alaska and often beyond, into the Arctic. The orcas lie and wait along the coast, knowing there is food to be had.
"The mother gray whale is very protective of her calf. She's not, ... she won't leave that calf. Being with all the killer whales around, she stays right with the calf and even until the very end and after."
Looking for safety, the gray whales struggled toward shore, which turned out to be a good thing for them. The orcas hate shallow water, so this time, mother and calf got away.