A “monster” great white shark was hunted by a pod of killer whales in this amazing footage filmed off the coast of South Africa.
The amazing sighting was filmed by Donavan Smith during boat tour off Knysna, about 250 miles from Cape Town, South Africa.
Smith describes the shark as a “big, monster great white… half the size of the boat.”
In the footage, killer whales can be seen near the boat, occasionally coming to the surface. “It’s a shark they are hunting,” he says. “They eat sharks.”
He later adds: “They actually bite the tails off [of the great whites] from the back.”
Watch:
Orcas are highly intelligent marine mammals, and they hunt in a highly-organized and strategic fashion. They’re called “killer whales” for a reason!
It is now known that killer whales are hunting sharks. Experts say it’s probably been happening for a long time, out in the deep ocean. But they’re working to understand why whales closer to shore have started going after Jaws, and what it means for both of these epic – and majorly misunderstood – predators.
An episode of our podcast explores this chilling behavior shift: how killer whales change marine ecosystems as apex predators taking on other apex predators. As orcas increasingly move into coastal zones, scientists are scrambling to understand what’s driving the pattern… and how long it’s been happening just out of sight.
