The normally black-blue eyes were void of any life as a wave lazily lapped against it, causing the animal they belonged to to rock gently. Once a feared predator, this great white shark had succumbed to a wound caused by an even scarier foe: orcas.
The normally black-blue eyes were void of any life as a wave lazily lapped against it, causing the … [+]
This ongoing battle between great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and killer whales (Orcinus orca) has been ongoing off the waters of South Africa for years now. Between February and June 2017, five white shark carcasses washed up on the beach in Gansbaai in the Western Cape Province. A recent paper published in African Journal of Marine Science concluded the same pair of orcas killed eight great white sharks since 2017 in the same area. Targeting the insides of the sharks (primarily their livers, although some sharks have had their hearts removed as well), the black-and-white predators always leave a calling card: a large, clean hole in the centre of the shark’s chest. “It is very precise [wound],” Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at Rhodes University in Makhanda, told 9news.com.au. “The orcas work together to tear open the sharks.”
It’s believed the orcas responsible for these kills may be members of a rare shark-eating morphotype. Named Port and Starboard, these adult male orcas have been known to love feasting on energy-rich shark livers. Until recently, scientists only saw the gory aftermath of the battle between two ocean giants. However, drone footage featured as part of this year’s “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel captured a pod of orcas killing a white shark in a highly coordinated attack in Mossel Bay. Broadcasted around the world, the video shows one of the orcas ripping out the shark’s liver and eating it.
“It is very precise [wound],” Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at Rhodes University in … [+]
But this latest kill? This was somewhere new. Towner shared photos of a freshly killed sub-adult female great white shark. Found in Hartenbos (Mossel Bay) – the first time a great white killed by the orcas has been found in the region – it washed back out to sea after pictures and measurements were taken. “The orcas seem to be focusing more on this site now,” she said, adding she believes the same two orcas are responsible for this kill. “These are identical injuries to other sharks killed.”
Why the orcas seem to have changed their hunting range is currently unknown, but Towner and other local scientists and keen to see if any more bodies will wash up… and what it means for the sharks in this area. For now, they have more questions than answers.
