7. They’re Efficient Enough to be Choosy
Perhaps one of the most fascinating details about orcas, especially those that hunt sharks and aquatic mammals, is that they have the ability to be choosy in what they eat. Despite needing hundreds of pounds of food a day to survive, killer whales have been observed eating only the fatty, nutrient-rich livers of sharks and leaving the rest of the shark behind. They even have a specific method to extract the liver! They’ll make a hole near the liver and simply squeeze it out of the shark, like we would squeeze toothpaste from a tube.
One scientist even observed a pod of killer whales attacking a blue whale, the largest animal known to have existed! Approximately 12 orcas repeatedly bashed into the blue whale, biting at it, and finally wore it down enough that they were able to force it underwater and drown it. Then, instead of feeding indiscriminately, they went for the tongue first! Sometimes, the tongue is the only part of the baby they eat, despite how much food they need to survive.