Researchers are baffled: Orca kills and swallows great white sharks in record time

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It takes less than two minutes: The orca attacks the great white shark, kills and swallows it, and swims away with its victim’s liver in its mouth. Experts say that the incident off Mossel Bay in South Africa provides new information about the hunting and feeding behavior of orcas.

Although orcas have previously taken down sharks, dolphins and even whales on their own, this is the first known case of a single orca taking down the world’s largest predatory fish, the great white shark, according to The Guardian.

Orca managed to kill the shark’s ego

“Orcas or orcas usually hunt in teams, but they can also hunt alone,” said Alison Towner of Rhodes University, who led the research on the discovery. “What was unusual was that the killer whale hunted a great white shark alone and in an extremely fast time frame.”

The whale “grabbed the shark’s left pectoral fin and pushed the shark forward several times, eventually disemboweling it,” the report said. Minutes later, the orca was seen to have “a piece of peach-colored, bloody liver in its mouth.”

All other recorded incidents in the area where orcas prey on sharks involved two to six orcas, and the attack usually lasted about two hours, the researchers reported.

Killer whale duo are famous and love shark liver

The killer whale is Starboard, part of the famous “Port and Starboard” duopoly. Port and Starboard are a pair of adult male orcas known to prey on great white sharks off the coast of South Africa. They always make headlines.

Although Starboard was able to single-handedly kill the juvenile great white shark, estimated to be 2.5 meters long and weigh about 100 kg, the research team suspects it may have needed to work with others to capture larger prey. Adult great white sharks can grow up to 6.5 meters in length and weigh up to 2.5 tons.

The Orca duo seems to have a penchant for high-energy shark livers. According to researchers, it is not yet known how the duo managed to clean the intestines of large sharks.

Starboard and Port’s fishing activities have raised fears among researchers that many shark species, including great whites, could be pushed out of coastal areas. Dr. Primo Micarelli, co-author of the new study from the Shark Studies Center and the University of Siena and a witness to the Starboard attack, said: “Despite my fear of these predators, I am increasingly concerned about the ecological balance in coastal areas.”

Source : Blick