"When hunting, all pod members work together, hitting the whale shark to turn it upside down. In that position the sharks enter a state of tonic immobility and can no longer move voluntarily or escape by going deeper," Erick Higuera Rivas, a marine biologist at nonprofit group Conexiones Terramar and a lead author of the study, said in a news release.
"By keeping it under control, the orcas then have greater ease and speed in approaching the pelvic area of the shark and are able to extract organs of nutritional importance for them," he added.
Although they are known as killer whales, orcas are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They were given the nickname by early sailors who observed them hunting in groups and preying on larger whale species.
There are documented incidences where orcas have preyed on other shark species, including great whites. In 2022, scientists reported how a pack of killer whales ganged up to kill a blue whale.
Collection
[
|
...
]