Orcas team up to ram sunfish until they explode, a behavior captured in the Gulf of California and described in a new paper in Frontiers in Ethology. Co‑author Kathryn Ayres of the nonprofit Beneath The Waves says the tactic may help younger orcas feed more easily or simply be for fun, as orcas are known to play with their food.

In July 2024 off San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, a tourism operator filmed three adult female orcas, one male, and one juvenile catching a spine‑tail devil ray, then later an adult female holding a sunfish carcass. The male charged, releasing the carcass just before impact; the carcass fragmented audibly, with the juvenile eating the bits while adults fed on the remaining tissue.

Orcas already use cooperative strategies such as ramming whale sharks, herding rays, blocking escape paths, and creating waves to knock penguins off ice. The observed “ram‑to‑fragment” tactic may be a refined version of their usual three‑pronged approach—targeting pectoral fins, slashing viscera, then using the beak to reach tissue.

Scientists interpret the behavior as social interaction, play, or practice, possibly a culturally learned tradition passed across generations, adding to the repertoire of orca food manipulation seen worldwide.