Lone orca filmed killing, eating a great white shark for 1st time

globalnews.ca:

Orcas, also called killer whales, are known for being vicious, but it’s not every day they take down another apex predator.

For the first time, a team of scientists observed a solo orca killing and partially devouring a great white shark off the coast of South Africa.

The encounter, which occurred in June 2023 in Mossel Bay, was outlined in a new study published this month in the African Journal of Marine Science.

According to the report — which also featured video of the unprecedented attack — the adult orca, named Starboard (after the direction of his flopped dorsal fin), sped toward the juvenile shark and tore off its left pectoral fin, “eventually eviscerating it.”

Starboard killed the eight-foot-long great white shark in under two minutes.

The orca devoured the shark’s liver, but not before he paraded around the meal like a prize, researchers said.

Alison Towner, first author of the study, told National Geographic that Starboard’s predatory behaviour “surprised” the team of researchers.

“Previously, we observed him hunting near others, noting teamwork in securing white sharks and accessing their livers,” she said.

Though killer whales have on rare occasions been observed hunting sharks in coordinated groups, this kind of solo predation has never been witnessed. Most orca attacks of sharks have been in noticeable groups of two to six, making it easier to overpower a shark and its powerful jaws.

Orcas typically travel in pods and are social animals. When taking out large or difficult prey, they often band together to attack other whales or sharks, or to knock animals like seals off floating icebergs.

That’s what makes Starboard’s behaviour so fascinating to researchers. Though solo predation is not entirely unheard