Researchers working in the Gulf of California have documented a new orca behavior they say has not been formally described before, according to ScienceDaily. In two separate incidents, the whales appeared to work together to process sunfish by holding the animal in place and then ramming it with force.
In the first event, recorded in July 2024, scientist Kathryn Ayres watched a group of orcas handle a dead sharp-tail sunfish they had already killed. According to her account, one female held the fish by its tail fin while a male accelerated toward it and struck just after the fish was released.
The impact caused the sunfish tissue to break apart into many fragments, and a juvenile orca ate the smaller pieces while the adults fed on the rest of the carcass. A second incident in September 2025 followed the same pattern of holding, releasing, ramming, and feeding, according to the researchers.
Scientists say ramming has not previously been recorded as an orca predation strategy. Because the sunfish were already dead, they believe the collisions were used to process the prey rather than kill it, though they say the behavior may also have social or playful elements.
The researchers noted that the fragmentation could make the food easier for young orcas to eat. They also said the effect may be linked to the distinctive tissue of sharp-tail sunfish, since this kind of breakup has so far only been observed in that species.
