Killer Whales Filmed Hunting Gray Whale Calf Near Monterey's Cannery Row

MONTEREY (CBS SF) -- A group of Killer Whales were caught on video over the weekend chasing and eventually killing a Gray Whale calf near Cannery Row in Monterey.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch posted video of the hunt that lasted over an hour, covering several miles of shore in Monterey.

The Gray Whale mother defended her calf fiercely as she held it on her back and thrashed with her flukes, but the Killer Whales ultimately were successful before the Gray Whales could run all the way to shore to escape," the post read.

After the calf was killed, the distraught Gray Whale mother charged around the area at the Killer Whales for several hours, according to the post.

"The Killer Whales work as a team, as you can see in the video, and they take turns and work from above and below the surface to separate the mom and calf pair, and exhaust the calf by holoding it underwater and bashing it around," the post read.

The hunting style is specialized, and only displayed by Bigg's (transient) Killer Whales on the West Coast of the U.S., the group said.

The video below may be hard to watch for some viewers.