Off Baja California, in Mexico, a killer whale named after an Aztec emperor is leading his pod on routine takedowns of the largest fish in the sea: whale sharks.
There have been isolated reports in the past of killer whales (also known as orcas) attacking a whale shark. But a study, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science is the first to show that a pod led by the 50-year-old Moctezuma has repeated the behavior at least four times. The finding suggests that the animals may be seeking out whale sharks.
Of the four documented events from 2018 through 2024, the large Moctezuma was present for three of them. And the fourth incident was carried out by killer whales that he is known to associate with.
You can find orcas in every ocean on Earth. Killer whales are actually the largest member of the dolphin family, but because dolphins are, in fact, a branch of the whale order, you might say that all dolphins are whales, while not all whales are dolphins. In a similar vein, whale sharks are not whales at all, but sharks, although, like some whales, they are filter feeders.
Although there is only one species of killer whale, scientists have documented that many orca populations are adapted to particular habitats. Each appears to prey on specific animals, including whale calves, seals, salmon, rays and great white sharks.
Whale sharks are gentle giants, but the assaults from Moctezuma’s pod are brutal. The orcas ram the giant fish from below, flipping them over to induce a catatonic state. They bite the whale sharks near their genitals, which causes them to bleed out before spiraling lifelessly into the abyss.
Their goal, according to Francesca Pancaldi, a marine biologist at the World Wildlife Fund and the lead author of the new study, is to get at the whale sharks’ large livers, which are stuffed with nutrients and calories. Pancaldi points out that all the documented attacks have taken place against juvenile whale sharks, which are about 20 to 26 feet in length. — JASON BITTEL / NYT
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