Footage shows a killer whale that appeared to have been injured during a performance at an aquarium bleeding by the side of the pool.

The video, filmed at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, shows the orca being made to pose with its tail and head curved upwards while lying by the side of the tank.

As the whale moves its left flipper, blood is seen on the otherwise white floor, causing spectators to gasp in shock as they film the incident.

The orca returns to the water, and the trainer gives it fish as the clip ends.

A spectator who captured the footage on November 10 claimed the whale had been injured during the show.

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park confirmed to local media on November 11 that the orca had indeed been wounded.

They stated that the injury occurred when the whale was accidentally scratched while playing with toys and that trainers attended to it immediately after noticing the bleeding.

Despite being called ‘killer whales', orcas are not whales but the largest species of oceanic dolphins. They are highly intelligent and social animals, often living in groups called pods, which can consist of up to 40 individuals.

They hunt cooperatively and swimming in pods at high speed allows them to work together to herd, chase, and overwhelm prey, such as schools of fish, seals, or even large marine mammals like whales.