Published18 minutes ago
A solitary killer whale, or orca, has been filmed hunting and killing a great white shark in an “astonishing” attack.
Scientists said it was “unprecedented” and showed the exceptional predatory skills of killer whales.
Two orcas in particular off South Africa’s coast have been observed before working together to hunt and kill sharks, including great whites.
“But this caught us off guard,” said shark biologist Dr Alison Towner.
Dr Towner, who is from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, has studied the animals for several years. She and her colleagues published a detailed and grisly account of their new observations.
The attack – filmed in 2023, which you can watch here – was, scientists, said “solo and swift”. The male killer whale killed the shark and consumed its liver – all in under two minutes.
Scientists first captured drone footage of two male orcas working together to hunt great white sharks in 2022.
The scientists then reported that the animals, nicknamed Port and Starboard because their dorsal fins are bent in opposite directions, “exhibited a predilection for extracting and consuming the sharks’ livers”.
During the attacks, the sharks would tightly circle the killer whales, in a desperate attempt to avoid predation,” recalled Dr Towner.
In this newly reported attack, Starboard hunted on his own. Scientists described how the
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