Extraordinary underwater footage has show the moment an orca tears into a whale shark to rip out its liver.
The clip was captured by diver James Moskito, 58, in the Sea of Cortez in California, while diving there in April.
The film shows a total of eight orcas, sometimes called killer whales, surrounding a whale shark – the world’s biggest fish.
One of them swims underneath the huge, nine-metre long shark, while a second waits on its right side.
The bigger cetacean then inflicts a fatal bite, with a trail of blood clearly visible.
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Mr Moskito, the proprietor of Ocean Safaris, said: “Catching this on camera I knew this was something no one else has been able to do, and maybe only one or two others have ever seen in the world.
“I feel very privileged and humbled by these wild experiences that few others get to ever see.”
The savagery of the clip had clearly made a big impression on the oceanographer, who added: “It is always a roller coast of emotions, from happy I got to see it to sad that a beautiful animal just died, but in nature everything need to eat.
“Mother nature, she can be cruel and inspiring at the same time.”
Pondering on the technique used by the orcas, Mr Moskito added: “I believe the killer whales attacked and killed the whale shark by biting the lower underside part of the whale shark and took the liver out.”
“Once the whale shark was bitten if didn’t move, it fell towards the bottom out of visibility and in a way I assumed it was dead or dying.
“I was swimming just a metre below the water and the whale shark was about two metres below when it was bitten.”
As for his own involvement, Mr Moskito said he had been a few metres below the surface watching closed.
Orcas, which are highly intelligent, social animals, are known for consuming specific organs, such as livers, from their prey, leaving the rest – effectively, picking out the choicest cuts.
Such an approach has been spotted all over the world and for different species, including whales and sharks.
Orcas are particularly partial to shark livers, which are packed in a nutritious oil called squalene.
Other predators also employ the technique: for instance, great whale sharks concentrate on blubber-rich areas when scavenging on whale carcasses, and seals go for energy-rich shark livers.
On dry land, wolves and bears also prefer particular body parts, probably for nutritional reasons.
All of which appears to prove that it’s not unusual to find fussy eaters in the animal kingdom either.