The 8-meter killer whale, otherwise known as Orcinus orca prey on animals like turtles, fish and other marine mammals. Scientists have found that killer whales have the abilities to hunt the biggest known fish on Earth: the whale shark!

However, the whale shark is eighteen meters long! So how does the killer whale catch its prey? Well, there is a catch: the killer whales aim for the younger, weaker, juveniles. The killer whales use teamwork and cooperation to catch the whale shark

Lots of locals’ stories suggested that the killer whales hunted and caught the whale sharks, but now the scientists think they have proof. “We show how orcas displayed a collaborative hunting technique on whale sharks, characterised by focusing on attacking the pelvic area causing the whale shark to bleed out and allow orcas access to the lipid-rich liver,” says senior author Erick Higuera Rivas, a marine biologist at the non-profit Conexiones TerraMar tells Frontiers in Marine Science.

The orcas first start bashing their bodies against the whale shark’s body. This causes the whale shark to flip over in a state of immobilisation so that it can’t escape by going deeper. This also makes it easier for the orcas to attack. “By keeping it under control, the orcas then have greater ease and speed in approaching the pelvic area of the shark and are able to extract organs of nutritional importance for them,” says Rivas.

Additionally, killer whales want the organs inside a whale shark that give them nutritional benefits. So, then they try to attack at the pelvic areas (which are around the fins). This activity has not been seen in any other pods in the area, but other pods could be doing this. The scientists are warning that because of the decrease of whale sharks, the killer whales might be in danger which leads to worse ecosystems in the area. This means we should save our animals.