Orcas seen blasting dead sunfish apart in rare feeding behaviour study

Killer whales have been filmed smashing a dead sunfish apart off the Gulf of California in a rare sighting that researchers say offers fresh clues about how the species feeds and interacts within its pod. According to research published in Frontiers in Ethology and reported by Dawn World, the behaviour was observed on two occasions in 2024 and 2025. Video released by the US-based NGO Beneath The Waves shows one orca holding the fish by the tail while another charges into it, breaking the already dead sunfish into pieces. The scene is unusual, but it should not be read as a hunt or a violent attack on live prey. Researchers said the sunfish was already dead. Kathryn Ayres, one of the researchers quoted in the report, suggested the whales may have been trying to break the fish into smaller pieces that are easier to eat. She also said the action could simply be playful behaviour, noting that orcas are known to play with food. That uncertainty is part of what makes the observation notable. Orcas are highly intelligent apex predators, and scientists have long known they use coordinated tactics to catch prey and share food within their groups, including with calves and juveniles. But direct footage of them dismantling a large fish in this way is rare, especially in the wild. The report also places the behaviour alongside other well-documented orca habits, such as wave washing, where several whales work together to create rough water and dislodge seals from ice. Researchers have also recorded more unusual behaviours over the years, including orcas wearing dead salmon as hats and, in some populations, using pieces of seaweed as grooming tools. Mark Peter Simmonds of OceanCare, speaking to AFP as quoted in the report, compared the scene to a formal human meal, where eating and socialising happen together. That comparison captures one of the key questions raised by the new footage: whether the whales were feeding, playing, socialising, or doing some mix of all three. What remains unclear is how common this behaviour is, and whether it is specific to certain groups of orcas. The observations off Mexico add another small piece to the broader picture of a species whose behaviour continues to surprise researchers. For marine scientists, even a dead sunfish can reveal something new when orcas are involved: how they handle food, how they learn from one another, and how much of their apparent play may also have a practical purpose. The latest finding does not change the basic picture of orcas as skilled, adaptable hunters. But it does show that their behaviour can be far more nuanced than a simple predator-prey encounter. In the water, as on land, the line between feeding and play is sometimes harder to draw than it first appears.

Source: Dawn World - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017825/killer-whales-orcas-blow-fish-to-bits-for-fun-researchers-say