World's first aerial footage of killer whales hunting and killing great white sharks is nature at its most unforgiving
Astonishing footage has shown a pair of orcas attacking and killing a great white shark.
Sharks have long been considered the biggest predator of the world's oceans - but it seems like there's a serious contender.
Back in 2022, a team of scientists used a drone to capture an aerial view of two orcas launching an hour long attack against the ocean's most feared predator in Mossel Bay, South Africa. Watch the astonishing footage here:
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It's no secret that orcas are capable of causing serious damage to sharks, however it's never been caught on camera in this detail before.
The footage was recorded as part of a wider study from The Ecological Society of America's journal Ecology, with the research shedding new light on the behaviour of killer whales.
"This behaviour has never been witnessed in detail before, and certainly never from the air," lead author Alison Towner, a senior shark scientist at Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa said of the footage.
Reports of predatory activity from killer whales has been reported on this stretch of South African coastline, which is south of Cape Town.
Researchers believe the behaviour is also spreading amongst orcas, with several more clips of the animals attacking sharks surfacing across the years.
It's believed that orcas are killing the sharks in order to eat the animals' nutrient rich liver, with the aerial footage showing the killer whale biting into the shark's liver.
One of the orcas is so infamous for his hunting tactics that he's been named Starboard and is the usual suspect whenever these attacks occur, he also a fellow orca associate named Port who helps in the attacks.
Speaking about Starboard's killer reputation David Hurwitz, a boat-based whale-watching operator from Simon's Town Boat Company, said in 2022 that this behaviour was 'really something else'.
"I first saw Starboard in 2015 when he and his close-associated Port were linked to killing seven gill sharks in False Bay," he said.
"We saw them kill a bronze whaler [copper shark] in 2019 – but this new observation is really something else."
Further research across the years has suggested the change in orca behaviour could signal a wider change in the ecosystem.
More recent footage has seen Starboard heading out to hunt alone, a change from previous research with suggested that orcas hunted in groups.
"Over two decades of annual visits to South Africa, I've observed the profound impact these killer whales have on the local white shark population," Dr Primo Micarelli told the African Journal of Marine Science after witnessing the attack in person.
"Despite my awe for these predators, I'm increasingly concerned about the coastal marine ecology balance."
Topics: Environment, Animals, Sharks, Shark Attacks
Brenna Cooper