An orca, already known for surgically extracting shark livers, has a new trick up its sleeve: killing one of nature’s most lethal predators all by himself.
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It is the first time scientists have seen an orca take down a great white shark alone. Starboard typically hunts with his relative, Port, near Cape Town, South Africa.
The new footage, captured in Mossel Bay in June 2023, shows Starboard killing an eight-foot-long juvenile great white shark and removing its liver in less than two minutes. The orca then parades past the videographer’s boat, carrying the bloody liver in its mouth.
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Orcas are known for working together to hunt even the largest prey, so Starboard’s behaviour is unusual, according to Alison Towner, a shark expert at Rhodes University who led a new study published in the African Journal of Marine Science.
‘Starboard’s predation strategy here really surprised us,’ says Towner. ‘Previously, we observed him hunting near others, noting teamwork in securing white sharks and accessing their livers.’
Named after their bent dorsal fins – Port’s bends left and Starboard’s bends right – the duo, most likely brothers, have dispatched sevengill and great white sharks in the area since 2015 using a unique technique: tearing the fish’s pectoral girdle and carefully removing the calorie-rich liver while leaving the rest of the carcass intact.
During the most recent incident, Port was seen nearby but kept his distance.
In recent years, pack hunting has drawn a lot of attention to orcas. One Antarctic population engages in wave washing, in which predators cooperate to create waves that push prey animals off ice floes. In 2017, orcas worked together to hunt a bowhead whale in Russia.
However, solo hunting for larger species carries higher risks.
They will also work alone if they believe the animal is in danger, such as being sick or young, as was the case with the great white.
According to Towner, after Starboard’s kill in June 2023, great white sharks left the area for about four months before returning in smaller numbers. She has observed similar behaviour following previous orca attacks.
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Towner acknowledges that unregulated overfishing is a far greater threat to shark populations than Port and Starboard, but orcas have added to the pressure on fish species that are already struggling.
She adds that the absence of apex predators such as sevengills and great white sharks could have a knock-on effect throughout coastal South Africa. For example, prey species such as seals and fish may see an increase in population. Other shark species, such as the copper shark, are already vying for the top spot, according to her research.
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