Page "Killer whale" Paragraph 49

Killer whales can induce tonic immobility in sharks and rays by holding them upside down, rendering them helpless and incapable of injuring the whale.

Some sharks suffocate within about 15 minutes while the whale holds them still, because these sharks need to move to breathe.

In one incident filmed near the Farallon Islands in October 1997, a female killed a long great white shark, apparently after swimming with it upside-down in her mouth and inducing tonic immobility in it.

She and another pod member ate the shark's liver and allowed the rest of the carcass to sink.