The cameras were carried by black-browed albatrosses from breeding colonies in the British overseas territory of South Georgia, in the far southern Atlantic Ocean.
From among the nearly 29,000 images taken during single foraging trips made by the birds, some show the birds diving around a killer whale, a strategy albatrosses may have developed to make catching fish easier.
Richard Phillips from the British Antarctic Survey, one of the three international organizations involved in the study, says the albatrosses’ teamwork with marine mammals is similar to the way tropical birds work with tuna.
“In both cases fish are directed to the surface, where it’s easy hunting for the birds,” Phillips said.
Sample images and full description of the study can be seen at the open-access journal PLoS One, from the Public Library of Science.