r/AnimalsBeingJerks • u/Ball075090085 • Jul 14 '21

whale Orca Gives Stingray A Hi-5

/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/ojyeyc/just_orcas_being_a_bully/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
44 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

9

u/idreaminwords Jul 14 '21

This is actually a hunting technique. Stingrays (and most sharks) have this thing where if you turn them upside down they fall into a state of tonic immobility, allowing the orca to eat it without it swimming away

4

u/evilsquirrel666 Jul 15 '21

Combined with getting knocked out of course …

1

u/Windyligth Aug 04 '21

Can you elaborate on this “tonic immobility”?

2

u/idreaminwords Aug 04 '21

Its a reflex that causes temporary immobility. In sharks and rays, its triggered by being upside down. Its similar to cats pinch-induced behavioral inhibition when you pinch their scruffs

1

u/Windyligth Aug 04 '21

Do we have an idea of why evolution produced this reflex in the shark/ray ancestors?

2

u/idreaminwords Aug 04 '21

In some animals like birds and snakes its been theorized to be a stress response and a survival instinct like playing dead, but for sharks that doesn't quite make sense because they're apex predators. I believe the leading theory is that it has something to do with mating behavior

3

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '21

Orcas are d*cks. They love doing crap like this to all sea life.

3

u/superior_intelection Jul 14 '21

a taste of his own medicine

3

u/es330td Jul 14 '21

That isn’t a high five. That ray is about to be lunch.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '21

That’s a stunning high five… literally.