Shark Week fans are in for a treat after drone footage recorded a pod of killer whales killing a great white shark in South Africa’s Mossel Bay.
Images courtesy of daily beast, airs Thursday night during Disovery’s Shark Week, promising viewers an exciting clash between the killer whale and a great white. The video supports a theory among scientists that great white sharks are fleeing their usual habitats because they are being hunted by killer whales.
In the clip, three killer whales are seen invading the great white in Mossel Bay in South Africa, which has always been a migration area for great whites but has seen them disappear in recent years. The nine-inch-long great white can be seen wedged between the middle orca’s jaws as it rises to the surface before a pool of blood forms in the water. The whale then begins ripping out the shark’s liver with the help of the other two whales as they descend into the depths.
South African scientist Alison Towner has been studying the migration patterns of great white sharks for 15 years and recently published a paper in the African Journal of Marine Science describing killer whales as shark-hunting predators.
“It’s probably one of the most beautiful pieces of natural history ever filmed,” Towner said. the daily beast. “I really think once these images are released, they will go viral. The whole world is going to go into a frenzy about this because it’s so unique.
“We have all the evidence that killer whales are responsible for killing white sharks,” Towner added, noting that dead sharks have appeared on beaches with missing livers. “But this is the world’s first drone footage of killer whales hunting a great white shark. It is the first time in South Africa that this has been documented as direct evidence.
The footage, which you can view here, will debut on the Discovery and Discovery+ program on Thursday. Shark house.
