Imagine hunting a species that is ten meters larger than you. Well, that is what a pod of killer whales are doing in the Gulf of California. Last year, marine biologist, Erick Higuera, and his colleagues researchers uncovered the killer whales to have learned a series of unique skills to hunt down whale sharks, the world’s largest fish.

Killer whales, typically known for their intelligence and power, have been found in recent research to take down an animal that only a few other animals can. The orcas use specialised strategies to attack the whale shark. Generally, whale sharks, who can grow up to 18 meters, have very few predators to worry about, yet killer whales have still found a way to take them down. They are super smart,” says Higuera, “They’re specialists in their hunting tactics.” Salvador Jorgensen, marine ecologist at California State University Monterey Bay, adds that “They’re capable of predating on the ocean’s largest creatures so I think there’s no doubt about their apex predator status at this point.” The findings only add to a growing body of evidence showing that killer whales are one of the ocean’s top predators.

The killer whales have developed a very clever way of hunting the whale sharks down. First, the killer whales will work together to ram the whale shark, stunning it and preventing it from diving deep, one of the whale sharks’ only defenses. “It’s a huge animal that has very tiny teeth,” says Francesca Pancaldi, a marine biologist at Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas and a co-author of the study. “It’s relatively slow compared to other sharks and it cannot defend itself, other than dive down. Then the killer whales will flip the whale shark onto its back, and when the whale shark turns upside down it will go into a trance state known as tonic immobility. Finally, the killer whales will bite the underbelly of the shark, causing it to bleed profusely, and killing it.

The behaviours observed in orcas are truly fascinating, offering a glimpse into the orca’s intelligence and the extraordinary teamwork they display during hunts. Orcas are known for their hunting strategies, but the coordinated effort involved in taking down such a large and elusive prey like the whale shark adds a whole new level of complexity to their hunting. It highlights not only their problem-solving abilities but also their capacity for collaboration, a trait that sets them apart as one of the ocean’s greatest predators.