The great white shark might be one of the most fearsome marine creatures, but even they are no match for orcas.
Three great white carcasses were found washed up off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa with their livers missing. Experts who examined the bodies say they were likely killed by local orcas, who specifically went after their organs.
It’s not usual for orcas to prey on sharks. The efficient killers hunt in packs, coordinating highly organized attacks and regularly taking down many of the ocean’s greatest predators with surprising skill and cunning.
They’ve even been spotted attacking great whites a few times over the last two decades.
But what’s interesting about these recent killings is that the orcas appear to have punctured the sharks’ bodies with perfect precision in just the right spot. Two of the carcasses discovered in Gansbaai were found with large holes below their pectoral fins, which would allow their livers to slip out with ease.
Shark livers are rich in oil and fats, which provide energy and keep them afloat. Though no one has actually spotted an orca removing a great white’s liver, the researchers who autopsied the shark carcasses say the energy-rich fats contained in the organs would be beneficial to the giant creatures.
“Obviously this is a very sad time for us all,” said Alison Towner, a white shark biologist who led the autopsy, according to a blog maintained by Marine Dynamics, a shark cage diving company in South Africa. “Nature can be so cruel and the dexterity these enormous animals are capable of is mind-blowing, almost surgical precision as they remove the squalene-rich liver of the white sharks and dump their carcass.”
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