Drone footage shows orcas killing a great white shark.
(Picture: Discovery Week)Remarkable footage captures the moment three killer whales rip the liver of a nine-foot-long great white shark turning the blue waters of South Africa’s Mossel Bay blood red.
The short clip shows two orcas swimming close to the shark, while a third suddenly appears beneath the water. The third orca is then seen thrashing the shark before taking a bite. The whale takes hold of the bleeding shark and submerges deep into the Indian ocean.
The gripping moment was filmed by a drone camera and was shown as part of Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’. The programme is broadcast annually for a week with the aim to increase awareness about the ancient marine predators that are key to the health of the ocean.
Orcas are known to go for a great white sharks liver, as the organ is rich in fats and oils that help the great white maintain its buoyancy (ability to float). Further evidence to support this came in 2017, when eight shark carcasses washed ashore in a nearby shore were all missing their liver.
Shark numbers have significantly dropped in Mossel Bay, which was once considered the shark capital of the world. Up to 900 sharks lived in the area but it has dwindled down to no more than 522 in recent years. The footage is crucial evidence to support scientists’ theories that great white sharks are fleeing from their usual habitats.
Marine biologist Alison Towner, who’s been working on the movement ecology of great white sharks for 15 years, told the Daily Beast “It’s probably one of the most beautiful pieces of natural history ever filmed,”
“We’ve had all the evidence for killer whales being responsible for killing white sharks,” she added.
“But this is the world’s first drone footage of killer whales predating on a white shark. It’s the first time in South Africa it’s ever been documented as direct evidence.” The scientist goes into more detail in her recently published article on the orcas’ predation of great whites.
