Killer whale vs shark: solo orca eats great white

A solitary killer whale, or orca, has been filmed looking and killing a terrific white shark in an “astonishing” assault.

Scientists mentioned it was “unprecedented” and confirmed the distinctive predatory abilities of killer whales.

Two orcas particularly off South Africa’s coast have been noticed earlier than working collectively to hunt and kill sharks, together with nice whites.

“However this caught us off guard,” mentioned shark biologist Dr Alison Towner.

Dr Towner, who’s from Rhodes College in Grahamstown, South Africa, has studied the animals for a number of years. She and her colleagues revealed an in depth and grisly account of their new observations.

The assault – filmed in 2023, which you can watch here – was, scientists, mentioned “solo and swift”. The male killer whale killed the shark and consumed its liver – all in underneath two minutes.

The scientists then reported that the animals, nicknamed Port and Starboard as a result of their dorsal fins are bent in reverse instructions, “exhibited a predilection for extracting and consuming the sharks’ livers”.

Throughout the assaults, the sharks would tightly circle the killer whales, in a determined try and keep away from predation,” recalled Dr Towner.

On this newly reported assault, Starboard hunted on his personal. Scientists described how the orca gripped the left pectoral fin of a 2.5m lengthy juvenile shark and “thrust ahead a number of occasions earlier than finally eviscerating it”.

Marine mammal scientist Dr Luke Rendell from the College of St Andrews mentioned it “a extremely stunning commentary” of the behaviour.

“It is fascinating that it is only one animal,” he instructed BBC Information, and the way a lot ability it demonstrates in tackling the shark – ramming it within the aspect and grabbing the pectoral fin to avoid these large, nasty jaws.

“An ideal white shark is a pleasant, large focus of meals, so it is maybe unsurprising that some populations [of orcas], the place these sharks happen in enough numbers, have realized to take advantage of that.”

It raises questions on how killer whale behaviour is perhaps affecting the shark populations within the areas.

The scientists have no idea what’s driving the behaviour, however Dr Towner instructed BBC Information that it was turning into evident that “human actions, like local weather change and industrial fishing, are exerting important pressures on our oceans”.

And there may very well be well being repercussions for killer whales looking sharks, together with ingesting toxins and metals from shark flesh.

“Disruptions within the steadiness of apex predators can have an effect on different species too,” defined Dr Towner. “Endangered African penguins may face elevated predation by cape fur seals [if the fur seals are not being eaten by] white sharks.”

Dr Rendell identified that there was no method of understanding if the behaviour was new or just noticed for the primary time. “However what actually stands out is is how skilful these animals are as hunters.”

Dr Towner added that each discovery in these interactions [between orcas and sharks] was “fascinating”.