Killer whale Orcinus orca predation on sunfish Mola mola

Abstract

The stomach contents from a killer whale stranded in north-west Ireland were examined. Siphonostomatoid copepods Cecrops latreilli and bones consistent in shape and size with those from the ocean sunfish were found. While observations of free-ranging killer whales predating on sunfish exist from the Gulf of Guinea and the South Pacific, this is the first record for the North Atlantic and the first from stomach content analysis.