A surviving victim of a pair of “infamous” shark-hunting orcas has been identified in the waters off South Africa, sporting massive scars.
The victim, a 3.5 metre female great white shark, was spotted July 2017, at Seal Island in False Bay, off Western Cape.
Photos show clear “rake marks” along the shark’s side, which were left by the apex predators’ conical-shaped teeth.
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A paper, published earlier this month, concludes the marks were left by Port and Starboard.
The two orcas have been hunting sharks along the Gansbaai coast, which is around 100 kilometres east of False Bay.
The pair are tearing out the livers and eating the organ, which is “packed with nutrition”.
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The marks observed on the great white sharks were on its left side, and pointed towards a fierce battle.
“The appearance of the scratches seems to indicate that they were inflicted with significant force,” lead author, Alessandro De Maddalena, wrote.
“It is likely, the marks were enhanced by the vigorous movement that the shark may have made in order to escape the attack.”
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The shark seemed unbothered by the injuries and made “several passes around the boat” being used for cage diving.
“The shark had a massive body, with a wide trunk,” De Maddalena noted.
The paper added that “predation on great whites by orcas is very rare”.
The rotting carcasses of torn-open sharks first began washing up along the South African coast in 2017.
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The orcas killed five great whites sharks over a few months in 2017.
A 2022 paper, published in African Journal of Marine Science, found the sharks fled the waters after being terrorised by the orcas.
Then in July 2022, rare drone footage was shared, showing the moment at least three orcas killed great white shark.
One of the predators ripped out the shark’s liver and ate it.
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Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, leading the research into the shark-hunting orcas, said the footage was “incredible”.
“(It’s) one of the most incredible pieces of natural history ever captured on film,” she said.”
Port and Starboard made their biggest kill to date this year.
From February 3 to February 22, 17 dead shark carcasses washed ashore the Gansbaai coast.
While orcas are considered the apex predator of the ocean, there’s no record of one ever killing a human in the wild.