An orca bit a whale shark’s body to remove its liver in never before seen footage.

Diver James Moskito, 58, was diving in the Sea of Cortez, California, USA, in April when he encountered a pod of eight killer whales hunting some unfortunate prey.

Dramatic footage shows one of the orca swim underneath the nine-metre-long whale shark before a second appears on the right side of the animal.

The killer whale then sinks its teeth into the shark’s underside before swimming away leaving a trail of blood streaming from the injured prey.

James, who runs 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 other have ever seen in the world.

“I feel very privileged and humbled by these wild experiences that few other get to ever see.

“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.

“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.”