A specialized shark-hunting pod of orcas in the Gulf of California has been caught on camera expertly targeting young great white sharks—flipping them upside-down to eat the energy-rich liver.

The pod, known as Moctezuma's pod, could be taking advantage of warming waters altering shark nursery areas to hunt juveniles, which lack the experience to flee as older sharks do. These observations suggest that orcas may hunt white sharks more often than we realized. However, a broader survey collecting more data is needed to draw strong conclusions.

"I believe that orcas that eat elasmobranchs—sharks and rays—could eat a great white shark, if they wanted to, anywhere they went looking for one," said marine biologist Erick Higuera Rivas, project director at Conexiones Terramar and Pelagic Life and lead author of the article in Frontiers in Marine Science.

"This behavior is a testament to orcas' advanced intelligence, strategic thinking, and sophisticated social learning, as the hunting techniques are passed down through generations within their pods."