Orcas discover that they play at exploding fish

BarcelonaLet not the majesty of orcas deceive you: they are intelligent, strategic, and relentless predators in the oceans. Research published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ethology has recorded and documented for the first time a behavior never before seen in these cetaceans in the Gulf of California, Mexico. As can be seen in the images, the orcas coordinate to hold and ram a prey, throwing it into the air.

The study, led by Dr. Kathryn Ayres of the NGO Beneath The Waves, explains this strategy in detail: an adult orca holds a sharp-tailed sunfish (another marine giant that can weigh up to two tons) by its tail fin. Just as a second orca swims at full speed towards the prey, the first one releases it, and with the impact, the fish's tissue disintegrates into thousands of fragments that float in the water.

There are two independent records of this phenomenon, dating back to July 2024 and September 2025, and the conclusion reached by experts is that it is not a killing technique, as the prey was already dead in both cases, but rather a method of processing food.

To feed the young or for fun?

The scientific community is studying three hypotheses to explain this unusual behavior of orcas. The first points to a parental investment strategy: by making the sunfish "explode," adults fragment its carcass into smaller, easier-to-consume pieces so that the young and juvenile specimens of the group can feed on the remains floating in the water. The second hypothesis is that it is simply a playful behavior, as orcas have a very complex social life and often play with their prey before or after eating them.

Finally, researchers also propose a possible immune benefit: the sunfish is covered with a gelatinous layer with a very particular microbiome, and by dispersing these microorganisms in the water, orcas could gain some nutritional advantage or contribute to regulating their own immune system.

The research has also opened new questions about the victim. For now, this extreme fragmentation of tissue has only been observed in the sharp-tailed sunfish species, suggesting that it could be a unique structural response of this animal to high-energy impacts.

The authors of the study emphasize the importance of continuing to collect high-quality images in the area to identify the orcas by their dorsal fins and eye spots, and to find out if it is the same group of cetaceans. "They are one of the most iconic predators in the world, and yet they continue to surprise us," concludes Ayres.