Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Scientists have now documented two instances of killer whales ramming into prey so hard that it explodes into little fishy pieces, a new behavior for a species known for smashing into human boats and playing with its food.
In both cases, which were captured on video, one orca holds the prey in place as another orca hurls its full body at it, nose-first. There’s a wet crash, and then it begins to rain fish parts as the orcas happily swim around.
“Orcas are known to selectively dismantle prey,” Erick Higuera, one of the authors of the recently published paper, said in an interview. “Exploding large vertebrae into thousands of fragments through kinetic impact alone is entirely unique.”
Scientists have now documented two instances of killer whales ramming into prey so hard that it explodes into little fishy pieces, a new behavior for a species known for smashing into human boats and playing with its food.
In both cases, which were captured on video, one orca holds the prey in place as another orca hurls its full body at it, nose-first. There’s a wet crash, and then it begins to rain fish parts as the orcas happily swim around.
“Orcas are known to selectively dismantle prey,” Erick Higuera, one of the authors of the recently published paper, said in an interview. “Exploding large vertebrae into thousands of fragments through kinetic impact alone is entirely unique.”
