Scientists have observed orcas crashing into heavy sunfish on two separate occasions. The force was so great that the bony fish broke apart. Although scientists saw what happened, they do not yet know why the orcas acted this way.
One possible explanation involves food: the orcas may have been breaking the fish into portions to feed their group, known as a pod. Another possibility is that they were simply bored. Neither explanation has been established.
Scientists plan to observe more of these events to better understand the behavior. For now, both food sharing and boredom remain possible reasons for the powerful attacks.
