{"id":259296,"date":"2025-11-03T08:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/259296\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T08:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:05:12","slug":"orcas-feast-on-great-white-sharks-in-the-gulf-of-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/259296\/","title":{"rendered":"Orcas feast on great white sharks in the Gulf of California"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even apex predators must watch their backs. In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas has been filmed feasting on an animal usually thought to sit comfortably at the top of the food chain: the great white shark.<\/p>\n

With cool precision, the orcas were seen flipping young sharks onto their backs \u2014 a manoeuvre that renders them immobile \u2014 before tearing them open to eat their nutrient-rich livers.<\/p>\n

Erick Higuera Rivas, lead author of a study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, said: \u201cThis behaviour is a testament to orcas\u2019 advanced intelligence, strategic thinking and sophisticated social learning, as the hunting techniques are passed down through generations within their pods.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video shows the orcas behaving less like reckless predators and more like strategic assassins. In two separate hunts in 2020 and 2022, five members of the same pod pursued juvenile white sharks, induced a sleep-like state of \u201ctonic immobility\u201d and deftly removed the liver, the most calorie-dense organ in a shark\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

\"Orcas<\/p>\n

ERICK HIGUERA RIVAS AND MARCO VILLEGAS<\/p>\n

The juvenile great whites were about 2 to 3 metres long and weighed a few hundred kilograms. The orcas, by contrast, can reach 8 metres and 6 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Adult great whites, which can grow to 5 metres and 2.5 tonnes, seem to have learned to stay clear of the orcas, which are known as killer whales. <\/p>\n

Dr Salvador Jorgensen of California State University, an author of the study, said: \u201cThis is the first time we are seeing orcas repeatedly target juvenile white sharks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdult white sharks [in the region] react quickly to hunting orcas, completely evacuating their seasonal gathering areas and not returning for months. But these juvenile white sharks may be na\u00efve to orcas. We just don\u2019t know yet whether white shark anti-predator flight responses are instinctual or need to be learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

A male orca known as Moctezuma appears to be the ringleader. Last year, scientists recorded him leading his pod to target a whale shark, again flipping it upside down to induce a natural state of paralysis. That cut off the whale shark\u2019s escape route, which would have involved diving to depths where the air-breathing orcas could not follow without surfacing to refill their lungs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The orcas then pulled the whale shark\u2019s pelvic fins apart, ripping open its thick skin before removing its lipid-rich liver.<\/p>\n

The encounters with great whites may reflect shifting conditions. Warmer ocean waters appear to have drawn shark nurseries northward into the Gulf of California, putting na\u00efve juveniles within striking distance of Moctezuma\u2019s pod.<\/p>\n

Read more stories from the deep<\/p>\n

Researchers are cautious, noting that two recorded hunts do not prove a permanent pattern. But they suspect shark predation by orcas may be relatively common but rarely witnessed. Future surveys will track the pod\u2019s diet to see whether white sharks are an occasional delicacy or a regular feature on the menu.<\/p>\n

Dr Francesca Pancaldi of the Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional said: \u201cGenerating information about the extraordinary feeding behaviour of killer whales in this region will help us identify their most critical habitats. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat way we can create protected areas and apply management plans to mitigate human impact. There could be more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even apex predators must watch their backs. In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-259296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}