A news video revealed how hungry ocean giants are becoming deft thieves by poaching cod from fishing lines. In a joint effort scientists and fishermen catch whales in Sitka in the act of poaching cod from their lines. It is told that the researchers used an underwater camera to monitor the action. Video grab shows a commercial long line with a black cod hooked in the distance. The camera is mounted above, hidden by tangled rope and dead fish.
It is seen that a sperm whale comes in, grabs the line, pulls it tight, then gives just enough of a gentle roll to shake one of the cod free. The project could reshape how federal fishery managers tally certain fish stocks. Aaron Thode with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego, said that there is a strong belief that the numbers that they are reporting for the size of the fish population are under-counted because the fish that they are hauling to the surface is being eaten by the whales.
Thode also opined that there is no physical trace being left behind by at least some of the whales, as seen on the videos, makes the problem worse. It is said that the research is going on and more tests will be followed in Sitka to better understand the situation behind such hunting of cods by hungry whales.
