New, unprecedented images reveal how orca take down the largest species of fish on Earth.
In May, researchers captured orcas hunting whale sharks in unprecedented detail. Here, see the aftermath: An orca swims with shark carrion in its mouth.
Sequence of killer whale attack on whale shark on 26 May 2024. Two of the killer whales brought the whale shark to the surface.First, the orcas repeatedly ram a slow-swimming whale shark to stun it. When the fish loses its equilibrium, the orcas work together to flip it upside down to expose its unprotected belly. “You could hear the crunch of the final blow,” Ayres recalls, which incapacitated the shark. Next, the orcas bite off the whale shark’s pelvic fins, causing it to bleed to death.
This pod’s taste for whale shark might be unique. “I’ve never heard of whale sharks being targeted by orcas anywhere else in the world,” says, a whale shark conservation specialist not involved in the study and the executive director of the Marine Megafauna Foundation. “But I can’t imagine a whale shark has much of a chance if a pod of killer whales zeros in on one.
After Higuera saw images from the first attacks, he and Pancaldi assumed the orcas were targeting the shark’s vulnerable pelvic area. But since the first few recorded events didn’t show the full sequence of the hunt, they couldn’t confirm that orcas were targeting this weak spot until Ayers and Williamson were lucky enough to film an attack and “finally complete the puzzle,” Higuera says.
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