Berlin, July 3 (dpa/GNA) – Orcas work together to ram dead sunfish, tearing them into many small pieces, a team of marine biologists reported on Thursday.
“We document how one orca holds the sunfish and lets go just before another orca hits it at high speed, causing the tissue to break apart into thousands of pieces,” said lead author Kathryn Ayres of the marine conservation organization Beneath The Waves. “We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun. Orcas are known for playing with their food,” she added.
The study, published in the journal “Frontiers in Ethology” documented the behaviour off the southern coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur.
In 2024, Ayres observed a female orca there holding a dead lance-tailed sunfish by its large caudal fin. Wounds indicated that its internal organs were already missing.
A male accelerated and swam towards the sunfish. Just before impact, the female released the fish. The collision between the orca and the dead sunfish tore the sunfish’s tissue to shreds. A juvenile from the orca pod then began to eat the shreds of the fish. The adult orcas ate the remains of the body but left the smaller fragments untouched.
According to the study, a similar incident was filmed in 2025 off Isla Cerralvo in the Gulf of California, off the Mexican coast. The team suggests the behaviour might be an act of parental care, as it allows the young to feed more efficiently.
It may also be a form of play, and ultimately, it could be a form of training for the young.
GNA