Orcas haben beobachtet, wie sie ihre Beute so heftig rammten, dass sie explodierte, und spielten möglicherweise ein Wild. Es wurde beobachtet, dass Orcas Mondfische im Maul hielten, während ein zweiter Wal mit hoher Geschwindigkeit auf das Ziel prallte und es in tausende Stücke zerbrach. Da der Fisch bereits getötet wurde, könnte es sich bei dem Verhalten um ein Spiel handeln.

Orcas seen ramming prey so hard it explodes may be playing game

Scientists believe sunfish-smashing behaviour could be form of entertainment or to help younger whales feed

Orcas have been observed ramming into giant fish so hard that the prey explode, possibly as a form of gory entertainment.

On several occasions, orcas were observed to hold sunfish in their jaws while a second whale smashed into the target at high speed, causing it to break into thousands of pieces. Since the fish had already been killed, scientists suggested the behaviour may represent a form of play.

Dr Kathryn Ayres, a scientist at non-profit organisation Beneath The Waves, said: “We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily or it could also just be for fun. Orcas are known for playing with their food.”

Ayres captured the first fish-ramming event on a GoPro camera in July 2024 and can be heard shrieking in shock on the audio.

In Ayres’ footage, a female orca is seen gripping the tail of a sunfish carcass while an adult male accelerates towards it. Just before impact, the female releases the dead fish and there is an audible crunch as the male strikes the target, leaving behind a plume of white fragments. A juvenile whale is subsequently seen eating the small pieces of flesh, while the adult orcas feed on the remains of the main carcass.

In a second instance, captured by a tourism operator in September 2025, an adult female orca was spotted holding out a dead sunfish, while a second orca executed a high-speed ramming manoeuvre, breaking it into thousands of pieces. The events were recorded in the Gulf of California, off the coast of Mexico, but it is unclear whether the same orcas were involved.

One hypothesis is that ramming is used to break the tough, rubbery sunfish into bite-size pieces for juveniles, whose jaws are smaller. But orcas are also known for social fads and boisterous games that do not have an obvious practical purpose. In the 1980s, a pod of orcas started carrying dead salmon on their head like hats, [a trend that was recently revived](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/02/orcas-wearing-salmon-hats). A subpopulation off the coast of Spain and Portugal has attracted attention for [unusual interactions with boats](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66384045).

[https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ethology/articles/10.3389/fetho.2026.1835536/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ethology/articles/10.3389/fetho.2026.1835536/full)

Some days we want salad, other days we want nachos. Maybe the chef orca wanted to prepare a different meal option that night…

Their version of slamming a beer can against their heads?

Correct me if I’m remembering wrong, but I thought sunfish had incredibly low nutritional value as part of a strategy to avoid predation.

So the Orcas are just doing them in for sport?

This is there “crashing hot wheels.” At least that’s what it sounds like.

I was thinking about this the other day.

Various countries have experimented with using various water based animals/ mammals for wartime use.

Dolphins usually, they have like rigs on them that they use to deliver explosives and whatnot.

I distinctly remember some former Russian dolphins escaping into the wild in the mid 00s.

Is it possible orcas were taught some techniques by a dolphin?

That implies they wouldn’t play with living animals… Which iirc we have clear evidence of them tossing live seals around purely for fun.