They may also hit ice floes from below to knock prey into the water. Perhaps the smell of fresh sea lion blood drew the shark to the area, but once one of the killer whales sighted the great white it immediately charged the shark and contacted it under water. This is certainly no indication of what may happen every time killer whales face great whites, but it does demonstrate the variety of a killer whale's diet. A pod of 30 to 40 killer whales was seen following a fleet of trawler ships in the northeastern area of the Shetland Islands in the United Kingdom. Research has shown that resident whales have a wider sound repertoire than transient whales, which may be partially related to their hunting habits.
Transients vocalize far less frequently than residents.
While resident whales have been observed vocalizing during all forms of behaviors, transients only vocalize during play and after a kill. One theory for this is that resident pods hunting schools of fish may need to rely on a great deal of communication to coordinate their assault. Transients may need to use stealth to approach marine mammals that might be alerted if the killer whales were to vocalize. D. Interaction with other species. Killer whales have a complex relationship with other marine mammals.