5 ways orcas are surprising scientists

Orcas continue to dominate headlines, and for good reason—the ultimate ocean predators keep finding ways to surprise us.

These versatile dolphins (yes, they’re not whales) are likely the most widely distributed vertebrate on the planet, living from the polar regions south to the Equator. Orcas have very diverse diets, feasting on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales—and they’ve developed ingenious methods for procuring their prey.

Some Antarctic orcas work as a team to create waves that knock seals off floating ice sheets. Others have figured out how to extract livers from great white sharks—sometimes solo, and in as little as a few minutes.

Orcas are fascinating to watch, and as coastal creatures, it’s possible to see the animals on tourist cruises worldwide, which Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, suggests everyone do in their lifetime.

“This is the biggest apex predator we have on the planet today,” Pitman told National Geographic. “We haven't seen anything like it since dinosaurs roamed the Earth.”

What else can these impressive carnivores do? Here are some highlights from our reporting.

1. Rogue orcas are thriving on the high seas—and they’re eating big whales

In March 2024, scientists reported a brand-new population of killer whales: Animals that ply the high seas, hunting large whales and other enormous prey.

These open-ocean denizens have been spotted at numerous locations far from Oregon and California, many of them well beyond the continental shelf, where waters can reach depths of 15,000 feet, according to the study in Aquatic Mammals.

This potentially new population feasts on sizable prey, such as sperm whales, elephant seals, and dolphins. (Watch video: sperm whales vs. orcas.)

“The open ocean doesn’t support a lot of large predators; it’s often described as a giant desert, so we weren’t expecting to find so many different animals,” says study leader Josh McInnes, a master’s candidate at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. His team plans to continue their research.

2. These orcas control the waves to hunt

In one region of Antarctica, about a hundred orcas have mastered a hunting technique called wave washing. The secret: working together to turn water into a weapon.

The orcas, having identified their target, form a battle line and start charging toward the seal atop an ice floe. Just before reaching it, they rotate to their sides in a single, synchronized motion and plunge underwater.

The momentum creates a wave so powerful that it floods the ice sheet, cracking the surface and whipping the flailing seal around. Slowly and methodically, they repeat the charge. The ice fractures more.

On the third charge, the wave sends the seal flying into the sea. It scrambles to climb onto a piece of ice, then disappears from view, grabbed from below by a killer whale.

3. Single orca kills great white shark

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An orca already famous for surgically extracting shark livers has a new trick up its sleeve: Killing one of nature’s most deadly predators all by himself.

For the first time ever, scientists documented an orca taking down a great white shark solo in March 2024.

The new footage, taken in June 2023 in Mossel Bay, shows an orca known as Starboard killing a juvenile eight-foot-long great white shark and removing its liver—all in under two minutes. The orca then parades past the videographer's boat with the bloody liver in its mouth. Starboard typically hunts alongside his relative, Port, near Cape Town, South Africa, but this time he was on his own.

Orcas are known for working together to hunt even the largest prey, making Starboard’s behavior a marked departure, says Alison Towner, a shark expert at Rhodes University who led a study in the journal African Journal of Marine Science. 

"Starboard's predation strategy here really surprised us," says Towner. "Previously, we observed him hunting near others, noting teamwork in securing white sharks and accessing their livers." (See 13 of Nat Geo’s favorite photos of orcas.)

4. Fish-eating orcas kill porpoises—for fun?

In 2005, Deborah Giles saw something she’ll never forget—a dead porpoise, riding the snouts of a pod of orcas off Washington State.

“What on Earth is happening?” wondered Giles, the science and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, based in Friday Harbor. “It didn't make any sense.”

Scientists first recorded this behavior in southern resident killer whales in 1962, and since then, eyewitnesses have observed more than 70 such incidents, peaking in 2005 at 10.

Often working as a team, these fish-eating orcas push porpoises with their snouts, hold them in their mouths, and carry them above the water. Sometimes orcas toy with their victims, allowing them to escape before recapturing them. Some are more aggressive, tossing the porpoise, slapping it with their flukes, or shaking it in their mouths. Most of the time, the porpoises presumably die following such rough treatment.

This orca behavior mystifies scientists—but they think the intelligent predators are likely playing.

Speaking of having fun…

5. Orcas are working together to sink boats

A population of orcas off the Iberian Peninsula has been gaining attention over the last three years—and causing angst among sailors—by attacking and even sinking boats in the area.

The first recorded attack occurred in the Strait of Gibraltar in May 2020, with dozens of cases recorded since then. Most of the incidents are remarkably consistent, generally involving a small group of whales attacking the rudders of small sailboats before breaking off and swimming away.

In June and November 2022, a pair of attacks caused two boats to sink; in May 2023, a badly damaged boat sank while it was being towed to shore.

"It's just as reasonable to suggest that they're doing this because they can, because it's fun,” says Hanne Strager, co-founder of the Andenes Whale Center in Norway and author of the recently published book The Killer Whale Journals.

That’s why it’s tempting to anthropomorphize orcas—and root for them to win against humanity.