There have been many accounts of orcas in recent years flapping boats-and sometimes sinks them. Scientists believe that this may be a culturally learned form of behavior that is passed down through generations. Now we have fresh examples: orcas in the Gulf of California have been filmed coming together to ram a sunfish with such force that the carcasses are torn into small pieces. While orcas have been known to use force to extract meat from their prey, this is something different new paper Published in Frontiers in Ethology.
“We think it could help the young orcas feed more easily, or it could just be for fun.” said co-author Kathryn Ayres Beneath The Waves, a non-profit organization promoting ocean health. “Orcas are known for playing with their food.”
Orcas engage in cooperative hunting strategies that involve shooting or killing animals (sometimes eating their prey, sometimes not), so the behavior can be described as an experience such as social interaction, play, or social learning. Orcas have been observed beating whale sharks because another orca held their prey steady. Other cooperative strategies include driving mobile rays, blocking the escape route when hunting great white sharks, and deliberately creating waves to knock penguins off ice sheets.
When hunting species such as sunfish, orcas typically rely on a three-pronged strategy. First, the orca will target the pectoral fins, then cut the sunfish from its body to remove the internal organs. The orca will then use its beak to pick up the remaining tissue. The newly observed ram-to-cloth behavior may represent a more advanced version of that basic strategy.
Play with your food
The first incident occurred in July 2024 off the coast of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. A tourism operator filmed three adult female orcas, one male and one juvenile eating a spiny tail devil ray. Immediately after, the cameraman filmed one of the adult females holding a sunfish carcass in her mouth. The sunfish had a large lateral wound, so it was likely that the internal organs had already been removed. The male orca then attacked the carcass, and the female released it just before the impact. An audible sound was heard as the body disintegrated on impact and pieces of flesh splattered into the water. The juvenile orca continued to eat the small pieces, while the adults fed on the rest of the dismembered exposed body.
