06/17/2026
Orcas have been caught flipping great white sharks before ripping out their livers.
Great white sharks are among the ocean's most feared predators.
But orcas have figured out exactly how to take them down.
Scientists studying killer whales in the Gulf of California have documented a remarkable hunting strategy in which orcas flip juvenile great white sharks upside down, temporarily paralyzing them before removing and eating their livers.
The behavior takes advantage of a biological quirk known as tonic immobility.
When certain sharks are turned upside down, their nervous system enters a trance-like state. The animal becomes temporarily immobilized and unable to defend itself. Researchers believe the orcas deliberately induce this state before attacking.
In three separate observations, a pod known as "Moctezuma's pod" was seen pursuing young great white sharks, forcing them to the surface, rolling them onto their backs, and then extracting their nutrient-rich livers.
The liver is the prize.
In great white sharks, the liver can account for up to a quarter of the animal's body weight and is packed with energy-rich oils. These oils help sharks maintain buoyancy and represent one of the most calorie-dense meals available in the ocean.
For an intelligent predator like an orca, targeting the liver is the equivalent of going straight for the most valuable part of the prey.
Researchers also observed the orcas sharing the livers among members of the pod, suggesting the behavior may be socially learned and passed between generations.
Orcas are already famous for developing specialized hunting traditions. Different populations have been observed creating waves to knock seals off ice floes, hunting stingrays, stranding themselves on beaches to catch prey, and even attacking large whales.
This new behavior adds great white sharks to that growing list.
What's particularly surprising is that the victims were juvenile great whites.
Adult great whites often flee entire regions when orcas arrive, sometimes abandoning hunting grounds for months. Younger sharks, however, may not yet recognize the danger.
Scientists think warming oceans and shifting shark nursery habitats may be bringing more young great whites into areas frequented by these orcas, creating new hunting opportunities.
Read the study:
"Novel evidence of interaction between killer whales (Orcinus orca) and juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the Gulf of California, Mexico." Frontiers in Marine Science
