Starboard, a male orca to the right of the image, attacking a great white shark near the coast of South Africa Christiaan Stopforth Drone fanatics SA
An individual orca has been observed hunting a great white shark for the first time, killing the young shark on its own in under 2 minutes.
The orca was one of a pair of males named Port and Starboard that have been killing great white sharks in waters near South Africa since 2017. The case shows orcas (Orcinus orca) do not need to hunt in packs to kill great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), themselves formidable predators.
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Sightseers and scientists aboard two vessels filmed Starboard dispatching the 2.5-metre-long shark, then swimming past the boats carrying its liver in his mouth.
The incident occurred last June near Seal Island, off the coast of Mossel Bay, around 400 kilometres east of Cape Town, South Africa. The carcass of a second, larger great white shark washed up on the beach the next day, possibly the result of another solo kill.
“It opens up the possibility that this pair could be responsible for killing more sharks than we initially believed,” says Alison Towner at Rhodes University, South Africa.
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It is unclear how many great white sharks are left in South African waters, but large numbers have fled Gansbaai and False Bay, near Cape Town, in response to the orca attacks there. This has negatively impacted shark-viewing tourism, and could have serious ecological ramifications.
For one thing, fewer great white sharks means there are more Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus), which hunt and kill endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) or compete with them for food.
There is also a possibility Port and Starboard will teach their skills to other orcas, says Towner. Starboard was observed hunting and killing sharks alongside other unidentified orcas in Mossel Bay in 2022.
“In South Africa, [solo hunting] adds significant pressure on white sharks, potentially reaching a tipping point they don’t need,” says Towner.
Journal reference:
African Journal of Marine Science DOI: 10.2989/1814232X.2024.2311272
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