Orca devours great white shark in 'surprise' attack.

The researcher, who works at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, has been studying these animals for several years.

She and her colleagues published a detailed and harrowing description of their discovery comments In the African Journal of Marine Science.

The male orca killed the shark and ate his liver, all in less than two minutes.

Scientists have captured drone footage for the first time showing two male orcas working together to hunt great white sharks in 2022.

Next, the researchers reported that the animals, nicknamed Starboard and Port, “showed a tendency to extract and consume shark liver.”

Towner recalls that during the attacks, the sharks circled tightly around the killer whales in a desperate attempt to avoid predation.

In this recently reported attack, Borthole hunted alone. Scientists described how a killer whale grabbed the left pectoral fin of an 8-foot-long juvenile shark and “lunged forward several times before finally eviscerating it.”

Marine mammal scientist Luke Rendell of the University of St Andrews described it as a “really beautiful observation” of behaviour.

“It's interesting that it's just an animal,” he told BBC News, “and how skillful it was in handling the shark, slapping it on the side and grabbing its pectoral fin to get away from those big, dangerous jaws.”

“The great white shark is an important food source, so it is not surprising that it is in some populations [de orcas]“Where these sharks are present in sufficient numbers, killer whales have learned to exploit this opportunity.”

This raises questions about how orca behavior affects shark populations in the area.

Scientists don't know what's driving this behavior, but Towner told BBC News it's becoming clear that “human activities, such as climate change and industrial fishing, are putting significant pressure on our oceans.”

There may be health repercussions for killer whales that hunt sharks, including ingesting toxins and metals from shark meat.

“Disturbances in the balance of top predators can affect other species as well,” Towner explained.

“Endangered African penguins may face increased predation by Cape fur seals [se as focas-do-cabo não estiverem sendo comidas por] Great white sharks.”

Rendell stressed that there is no way to know if the behavior is new or has just been observed for the first time.

“But what really stands out is the ability of these animals to hunt.”

Towner added that every discovery is in these interactions [entre orcas e tubarões] It was “amazing”.