Orcas Co-Exist With Norway's Arctic Fishermen

[Music] being underwater that close to them at night and seeing that kind of behavior is just unbelievable [Music] well within the Arctic Circle lies a city often called the Arctic gateway [Music] in the north of Norway and at roughly the same latitude as Siberia in Alaska this region has a surprisingly mild climate due to the warm currents of the Gulf Stream [Music] each year thousands of tourists visit this vibrant city which is located at the heart of the Northern Lights oval and famed as a viewing point for these magical lights rich in history the city's historic center on the island of trump's a-- is distinguished by its centuries-old wooden houses surrounded in stark contrast by much more recent and modern architecture at the core of this region's rich history which varies from the sami people of arctic europe who lived here before any national borders existed to the earliest polar expeditions lies arguably its most valuable cultural heritage and industry [Music] fishing the nutrient-rich Gulf Stream moves along the Norwegian coast right up to the barren sea and has provided an abundant fish stock for centuries cod worse Cree is perhaps the main reason why people live in the Arctic it's been the most important commodity for both domestic consumption and export for as long as it's been fished here and remains a very important part of the North Norwegian livelihood during the winter months fishing boats set out for one of the biggest seasonal migrations of fish along the North Norwegian coast Norwegian spring spawning herring each winter between six and seven million tonnes of herring enter the shallower fjords and base as part of their migration path a valuable food source for everything from cod seagulls and eagles to the ultimate apex predator an interesting relationship is developed here between man and Orca I'm a professional fisherman captain on a fishing boat about 125 feet long and we fish for herring and mackerel the relationships between fishermen and orcas in Norway it's kind of mixed but sometimes it's like kind of like we help each other we when we see the orcas we know we see on the behaviors you know there's can be herring around and but we're not that least when we when they come close to our nets or or if if they come inside out as we try try all the time to avoid that to happen so having figured out that feeding alongside fishing boats is an easy alternative to carousel feeding the sound of fishing boats pumping their catch works like a dinner bell and can be heard by the orcas from a distance of at least eight to eight kilometres away pods travel at top speed to quickly converge the rowboats once there these pods can form super pots lowering within their hundreds forcas hang around the boats in anticipation of the herring which they know will slip out of the nets the fish being both tired and lethargic makes them an easy class for the office but [Music] it's not on the orcas we'll figure this out humpback whales will often follow the same strategy using sitting right alongside the office you have to check that there isn't any orcas close to to where you try to put out your net that that's the biggest challenge and and sometimes when you unluckily gut orcas inside you just have to to to open up and that their orcas serum out and maybe also they're the headings also go out of the net but process no problem the Orca is the most widespread vertebrae on earth and recent researchers with you know that there are at least ten recognizable forms or eco types of orcas each of these eco types have different physical features great preferences distributions social structures and even acoustics or languages as night falls and Northern Lights dance over the skies the ocean is steeped into pitch-black darkness like beacons of light fishing boats continue to work in this impressive darkness and with several tons of Harry already in their net they're being watched closely from the shadows [Music] [Music] spy - import that keeps an eye on the activities on the body starting the pumps the catch is transferred from the net to the hold of the boat pause in the slick of fallen fish scales to cloud the water creating a haunting world underneath the surface captured here for the first time at night we catch a small glimpse into the secret lives of workers at night [Music] New York is wait patiently for some of the states to stink while some containers fiop looking for opportunities as the north draws smaller and when the feeding starts a beautiful dance unfolds picking off a single herring at a time the orcas move slowly almost clumsily around each other [Music] exhaling to try and achieve neutral buoyancy at this shallower depth allows them to hang effortlessly while enjoying their spoils as another part of something very interesting happens so as I'm watching them a large male in the second part appeared made a small turn and then cruised right into the center of activity while doing this he even brushed another male belly with his dorsal fin the more I watch them the more I could see playful and Inquisitor behavior between them and at the same time the vocalizations underwater were also becoming more intense [Music] see some interacting with each other and how the one gleefully tracing a single herring or even just hanging upside down it was incredible it became clear that this was as much of a social get-together as it was about the feeding this incredible footage shows it completely relaxed five and a half ton Orca Paul as he pains lazily at the surface carefully inspecting each herring before eating in one of the time [Music] [Music] [Music] as the last of the hearing is moved off the path slowly dive down into the darkness listen carefully for the next meal [Music] watching the same pods during their complex carousel feeding the next morning it's hard not to marvel at their ingenuity and their ability to recognize opportunity where it arises all in a relentless pursuit of survival since 1961 144 of these animals have been taken from the wild for exploitation and marine parks despite our atrocious behavior and keeping them captive we have made little progress in understanding or learning all there is to know about orcas today in the wake of this so-called blackfish effect it tides against captivity are slowly changing and more research as well as conservation work is being done in the wild most of these efforts are made without financial backing or support by governments and rely heavily on contributions and donations for all these animals have suffered at the hand of man is doing our best to understand and protect them not the least we can do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Journeyman Pictures

Views: 431,669

Keywords: Journeyman, Journeyman Pictures, orcas, wildlife, preservation, conservation, orcas feeding, footage, orcas at night, norway, fishing, Tromsø, cod fishing

Id: -U6ywFMKh2c

Length: 15min 25sec (925 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 09 2018