Animals

Orcas eat great white sharks—new insights into rare behaviour revealed

July 17, 2019

An orca helps herd a school of herring in the deep waters of the Andfjorden in Norway. (<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/05/orca-killer-whale-gallery/">See more of orcas</a>.)
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
An orca lifts its head from the surface of the water in the Andfjorden in Norway.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
<p>Orcas travel in close pods of up to 40 and often work together to attack nearby prey. The orcas of this pod prepare to herd and hunt a mass of herring in the Andfjorden in Norway.</p>
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
An orca breaches out of the water in Alaska.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures, Nat Geo Image Collection
Orcas are intelligent hunters and use different techniques to catch their prey. Here an orca begins to push a school of herring to the surface to make the prey easier to hunt in the Andfjorden in Norway.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
An orca mother and calf find a spot to breathe between ice in the McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.
Photograph by Norbert Wu, Minden Pictures, Nat Geo Image Collection
A pod of orcas surface the water and spout in Alaska.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures, National Geographic Creative
Orcas below the surface prepare to feed on herring nearby in Norway.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
Orcas can be found in any ocean but often frequent cold coastal waters. Here an orca swims past a tabular iceberg.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
Orcas in the waters of the Andfjorden in Norway.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic Creative
Orcas get in place to hunt a school of herring in the Andfjorden in Norway. They use distinct calls to communicate and coordinate their attack.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic Creative
An orca takes a breath as it breaks the waters surface in Alaska.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures, National Geographic Creative
An orca tale sticks out of the surface as it dives to feed on herring in the Andfjorden in Norway.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic Creative

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