When the orca whales at SeaWorld aren’t smashing themselves into the sides of their tanks, attacking their trainers or generally longing to live outside of their equivalent of a bathtub, they’ve come up with a new hobby —  luring unsuspecting gulls to a very gruesome end.  


A 2013 clip of Kalia, an orca whale living at SeaWorld in San Diego began making the rounds on social media after popular whale page @whalescastle shared a video depicting the then 9-year-old killer whale living up to her name, expertly hunting a handful of birds.


After spitting up a delicious fish for a handful of gulls dropping by her enclosure, Kalia waited until one of her visitors snapped up her offering, lunging towards her formerly feathered pal and engulfing it as a delicious mid-day snack.



But more than their awe at Kalia’s expert hunting skills and confusion at @whalescastle’s bizarre caption questioning who can relate to the video — “How many birds or killer whales do you think are in this comment section?,” joked @beyondblackforest  — the majority of commenters were concerned with what this behavior says about the whale’s living conditions.

 

“This is why extremely intelligent animals don’t belong in extremely small tanks in captivity,” wrote @jillmcelroyy.


“They are hunters, which belong to the nature,” added @life_art_diary.


“It was probably starving!” speculated @__amrs__.  “That’s how they trained them so sad.”


We can only hope Kalia will get the chance to flex her hunting chops in her natural habitat. Until then, the gulls in San Diego should sleep with one eye open.