Researchers witnessed an orca turning a juvenile great white shark belly up to consume its liver.(Image credit: Marco Villegas)ShareShare by:
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Scientists have observed killer whales in the Gulf of California consistently attacking and preying on the livers of young great white sharks in observations that are unprecedented.
The orcas (Orcinus orca) used a brutal yet intelligent strategy to temporarily immobilize their quarry, as indicated by a fresh investigation. The technique involved inverting the smaller sharks, consequently altering their perception of their environments and inducing a catatonic state referred to as tonic immobility.
“This fleeting condition makes the shark vulnerable, enabling the orcas to take out its nutritionally dense liver and likely devour other organs too, before leaving behind the remaining body,” expressed study primary author Jesús Erick Higuera Rivas, a marine scientist and head of the nonprofit research agency Conexiones Terramar, in a statement.
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Across three independent events, the orcas were subsequently noted to be sharing the shark livers amongst themselves. The attacks were conducted off the Mexican shoreline by the Moctezuma’s pod, an orca aggregation named in honor of a prominent male figure that garnered attention the prior year for ruthlessly killing a whale shark (Rhincodon typus).
It was already known that orcas hunted great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in certain areas, like South Africa and Australia, but documentation of this conduct in the Northeast Pacific remains exceedingly uncommon, with the most recent reliable observation off the West Coast occurring back in 1997. Observations in South Africa and Australia primarily encompassed mature great whites, whose substantial size and organs provide more sustenance for the orcas, as detailed in the study.
There exists only one prior instance of orcas killing a young great white shark. The assault took place during 2023 off the coast of South Africa and was committed by a notorious orca known as Starboard; the predator latched onto a young great white shark’s pectoral fin, impelling it ahead numerous times before disemboweling the shark, based on the report.
The novel observations, appearing Monday (Nov. 3) in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, unveil that orcas targeting young great whites is more widespread than scientists previously believed.
“This marks the inaugural instance of observing orcas consistently preying on juvenile white sharks,” elucidated study co-author Salvador Jorgensen, a marine expert at California State University, Monterey Bay, within the statement. “Mature white sharks are quick to react when they spot hunting orcas, immediately deserting their typical seasonal gathering spots and steering clear for months. However, these young white sharks may be unfamiliar with orcas. We simply don’t have enough information yet to know if white shark anti-predator evasion tactics are inherent or need to be acquired.”
An orca relishes the liver of a young great white shark.
Two out of the three attacks transpired in August 2020, according to the study. Five female orcas hailing from Moctezuma’s pod pursued one young great white shark to the point of exhaustion, steered it to the surface, and flipped it over. The orcas then plunged the shark underwater, and upon surfacing, they were clutching its liver within their jaws, the researchers described. Soon following this kill, the orcas went back for a second helping, chasing and disemboweling a second young great white.
The third attack occurred during August 2022 and unfolded in a comparable fashion. A group of five orcas, which included one adult male, flipped a young great white over like a pancake, forcing it to the surface and biting it. Blood poured from the shark’s gills, and its liver bulged noticeably from its abdomen, allowing the orcas to seize it.
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Orcas navigate away from one of the assaults on a young great white shark, carrying its liver undamaged.
A more thorough analysis of the injuries endured by the sharks pointed to tonic immobility potentially diminishing the likelihood of the orcas getting bitten as they tried to extract the liver. Selecting juveniles as the target also lessens the threat to orcas, but it’s uncertain if orcas inside the Gulf of California exclusively target youngsters or if they consistently attack full-grown great whites, too.
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“This conduct serves as proof of orcas’ heightened intellect, tactical thought processes, and intricate communal learning, considering that the hunting methods get handed down through generations among their pods,” Higuera Rivas pointed out.
A possible explanation for the recent sightings of this behavior could be that great whites have only newly initiated reproduction within Mexican waters. Warmer sea temperatures coupled with environmental incidents like El Niño seem to have changed the distribution pattern of great white shark breeding grounds, and Moctezuma’s pod is presumably capitalizing on a bigger population of juveniles inside the Gulf of California.
Other orca pods within the region may catch on, study co-author Francesca Pancaldi, a marine expert at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico, mentioned in the statement. “So far we have only observed this pod feeding on elasmobranchs [sharks and rays],” she commented. “There might be more.”
TOPICSGreat white shark
Sascha PareSocial Links NavigationStaff writer
Sascha is a U.K.-based staff scribe for Live Science. She possesses a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London. Her writings have been featured in The Guardian and the health platform Zoe. Outside of writing, she finds pleasure in playing tennis, baking bread and exploring vintage shops for undiscovered treasures.
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