In recent years, great white sharks have been absent from the coast of South Africa, with some believing that the decline in their numbers is due to the orca.
There is video of an actual hunt.
Two new observations, one from a helicopter and one from a drone, have captured two of the ocean's fiercest predatory animals.
Alison Towner is a marine scientist from Rhodes University in South Africa.
There was a white belly in the blue in the harbor of Mossel Bay. A group of killer whales were swimming near the surface when a drone pilot decided to follow them.
Two orcas split towards the local river's mouth as the group was recorded by the drone.
Two of the cetaceans were swimming close together on the ocean's surface, facing opposite directions.
A fifth orca emerged from between the two patrols. The shark's nose pushed it to the surface. Blood gushed into the sea after the orca bit into the shark's belly.
With the shark clasped firmly in the orca's jaws, the fifth individual dove deep to release the carcass.
One of the orcas grabbed the shark's tail and dragged it into the depths.
A famous male with a collapsed fin was in the group of orcas. Four of the washed up shark carcasses found on South Africa's beaches were missing their testicles.
No one has ever caught Starboard in a fight with a great white shark, but circumstantial evidence suggests he and another male orca, named Port, are likely to have killed other local shark species. The large fish tend to leave the area when the whales visit.
David Hurwitz, a boat-based whale-watching operator from Simon's Town Boat Company, was one of the people who contributed to the study.
We saw them kill a bronze whaler in 2019.
Three studies have described a battle between Orcas and white sharks.
A formal analysis of the drone's footage and snaps from a helicopter are the first to show the hunting strategy.
At least two other white sharks were also killed by orcas that day, according to helicopter photographs.
The pilot of the helicopter saw two shark killings from the air.
The pilot used their phone to take pictures and videos of the orca predator.
The researchers wrote that they assumed it was the same group captured by the drones.
"Two video sequences at 14h 07 and 14h 27 showed two different killer whales (Starboard in the first clip) closely following large white sharks at <1>
A shark might use this technique to keep an eye on an orca. It is the same as how their own prey avoids them. While sharks sometimes team up to hunt, orcas have it down to a fine art, which means looking in one direction is not guaranteed of safety.
From the helicopter, the pilot snapped photos of one of the orcas chowing down on a shark-like organ, one the size of an orca's head. It's possible that a white shark's meal could drift to the surface after it's been bitten.
Four minutes before the event, beach-based observers and the drone pilot reported seeing sharks. As shallow as two meters, some came in to shore.
There were sharks seen from the drone. After the killing spree, no sharks were seen in the area.
Starboard, an older male orca, has been caught hunting white sharks with a different group of orcas.
It could have a serious impact on the local shark populations if more orcas adopted the practice.
Some are blaming illegal hunting and fishing for the disappearance of sharks off the coast. That may not be true after all.
There was a study published.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
