Whale mother returns to her calf's corpse in doomed bid

Photographer Craig McInally, 40, caught the moment two orcas tore the young humpback whale to pieces when he was diving off the Revillagigedo Islands in the Pacific.

In the remarkable photos, the orcas can be seen isolating the calf from its mother and killing it before its mother returns to its side having watched it being killed.

Mr NcInally said: 'In fifteen years of expeditions to the remote Revillagigedo Islands, the crew of the boat I was on had never seen orcas there, much less witness the orcas' exhibit predatory behavior.

'The attack was chaotic and horrible to watch.'

Mr McInally, a qualified technical diver from San Diego, California, had been diving with the humpback school the day before the attack.

In the photos, the humpback calf can be seen swimming closely with its mother before the larger killer wales separate the pair before slowly drowning and killing the baby.

Craig added: 'The first day we were diving with the humpbacks the mother was patient and comfortable with us.

'She allowed us to get extremely close and the baby seemed inquisitive, passing close to us whenever coming up to breathe every three minutes or so.

(dailymail.co.uk)