Still image from video filmed on a drone by author Christiaan Stopforth, showing the first confirmed sighting of a group of killer whales killing a great white shark at Hartenbos Beach, Mossel Bay, South Africa. Credit: Christiaan Stopforth
Scientists have published new findings confirming that killer whales hunt great white sharks after the marine mammal was captured on camera and killed one of the world’s largest marine predators.
A group of orcas hunts sharks during an hour-long chase off Mossel Bay, a port city in the Southern Province of the Western Cape, in helicopter and drone footage that fueled a scientific study released this week.
“This behavior has never been observed in detail before, and certainly never from the air,” said lead author Alison Towner, a shark scientist at the Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa.
A clip shows five orcas chasing and killing a great white, and scientists believe three more were beaten to death while hunting.
“Orcas are highly intelligent and social animals. Their group hunting methods make them incredibly effective predators,” Simon Elwen, a marine mammal specialist and co-author of the study, said in a statement released Tuesday.
Orcas, the ocean’s apex predator, are known to prey on other shark species, but evidence of attacks on great whites was previously limited.
The study did not address the reasons behind the behavior.
One of the whales was known to have attacked white sharks before, but the other four hadn’t.
The authors said this suggested the practice was spreading, with previous studies showing that the black and white animals can learn from each other through “cultural transmission.”
Sharks disappeared from the area after the attack, with only one great white spotted over the next 45 days, according to the article published in Scientific Journal Ecology.
Direct observation of killer whales hunting white sharks and evidence of a flight response. Credit: Alison Towner
The authors said this confirmed that sharks have a flight response and may have broader implications.
In previously observed cases, the animals eventually left the formerly important habitats, impacting the ecosystem and shark-related tourism, said marine biologist Alison Kock of South African National Parks.
The footage was filmed in May and one of the videos first aired in June.
Video footage provides first detailed observation of orcas hunting white sharks in South Africa
Alison V. Towner et al, Direct observation of orcas predating white sharks and evidence of a flight response, Ecology (2022). DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3875
© 2022 AFP
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