Killer Whales Are Hunting Whale Sharks And Scientists Have The Evidence Now

Scientists have reported a surprising incident in the sea. Killer whales have been observed hunting whale sharks in Mexico. Killer whale is also called orca and these whales can also kill sharks. The whale shark is the largest shark species in the world and can grow up to 60 feet long.

This incident has come to light off the coast of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean. Report According to this, a group of orcas cleverly hunted and killed a whale shark. Although even before this people had claimed to have seen such incidents, but for the first time marine scientists have officially presented this incident to the world.

Frontiers in Marine Science According to the study published in the journal, herds of orcas gather in places in the Gulf of California where they have food. This food comes in the form of whale sharks that are not fully grown. They grow up to 3 to 7 meters in size, so killer whales can easily hunt them. One factor is that whale sharks have small teeth and are unable to defend themselves. They have no other way to escape except taking a deep dive.

According to Volker Deeke, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Cumbria in the UK, these marine creatures have repeatedly demonstrated that they are capable of developing very specific strategies with the help of which they can easily capture their prey. Scientists conducted an in-depth analysis of media footage from 2018 to 2024. Found out how they hunt such dangerous fish.

Scientists found that orcas, or killer whales, use a mass hunting technique to kill whale sharks. The killer whale first attacks the whale shark’s lower abdomen. This injury is very sharp and the whale shark starts bleeding. Here the orca whale turns the shark so that it cannot even dive into the depths. The killer whale then tears apart their body parts and eats the internal organs.