Orcas caught on camera hunting great white sharks off Mexico in the first recorded attack

Dubai:  Scientists in Mexico have captured extraordinary footage showing orcas hunting juvenile great white sharks, marking the first documented instance of such behaviour in the region. The findings, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, offer rare insight into the hunting strategies of these highly intelligent predators.

The recordings, collected between 2020 and 2022 using drones and underwater cameras, reveal orcas working cooperatively to flip sharks onto their backs. This manoeuvre induces a temporary paralysis known as tonic immobility. Once immobilised, the orcas extract and share the sharks’ nutrient-rich livers, leaving the rest of the carcass behind.

While similar orca predation events have been observed off South Africa, Australia, and California, this is the first confirmed case in Mexican waters, underscoring the adaptability and wide-ranging nature of these apex predators.

Researchers noted that juvenile white sharks appear particularly vulnerable, suggesting they may become seasonal prey for orca pods, which could impact local shark populations over time.

Marine biologists say the discovery not only expands understanding of orca behaviour but also highlights the complex predator-prey dynamics unfolding beneath the ocean’s surface — where even great white sharks are not safe from nature’s most formidable hunters.

With inputs from Agencies and Video by Erick Higuera and Marco Villegas