Scientists are witnessing something off the coast of California that they are trying to explain. Pods of killer whales are in an absolute killing frenzy lately, including a recent incident where nine of them tore apart a grey whale calf right in front of its mother and a group of whale-watchers, and the whole thing was caught on video. You can watch additional video embedded at the bottom of this post.

Humpback whales have been trying to fight off these marauding packs of orcas. A pod of killer whales in Monterey Bay is believed to be responsible for the deaths of seven gray whales in less than two weeks as they migrated to Mexico from Alaska.

But scientists have noticed some interesting behavior recently from humpback whales, who appear to be coming to the rescue sometimes. Scientists think that 60 to 70 humpback whales have arrived in the bay early in the last two weeks in what seems like a strange attempt to interfere with the killer whales’ feeding, almost like they’re trying to protect the prey, according to reports.