There’s One Predator in The Ocean Instilling Terror in Great White Sharks
There is a monster in the ocean that strikes fear even into the hearts of the great white shark, once considered the most fearsome predator in the seas.
A pair of orcas off the coast of South AfricaOrcinus orca) is known for terrorizing white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) so brutally that the sharks fled their own feeding grounds.
Now, for the first time, a completely unrelated pod of orcas has been caught harassing white sharks off the coast of Mexico, and their hunting strategy is nothing short of genius.
Orcas highly value sharks for their rich and nutritious livers. Orcas in the Moctezuma pod, which has previously been seen killing whale sharks, have found a way to completely immobilize the sharks before swallowing them, slurping up their livers like a delicacy.
Related: Great White Sharks Scared Out of Their Habitat by Just Two Predators
“I believe that orcas that eat elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) could, if they wanted to, eat great white sharks wherever they went in search of them.” says marine biologist Erick Higuera Rivas Conexiones Terramar and Pelagic Life.
“This behavior is a testament to orcas’ advanced intelligence, strategic thinking, and advanced social learning, as hunting techniques are passed down through generations within their pods.”
Orcas hunt a white shark in the Gulf of California. (Erick Higuera Rivas)
Among white sharks number of animals They exhibit a strange behavior when turned upside down: They become completely limp and docile. tonic immobility. In some species, such as opossums, this is known as playing dead, a strategy used to escape predator attention, but It is unknown why sharks do this.
Higuera and his colleagues have been studying a single group for some time; This is a fascinating group of orcas led by a group. male named Moctezuma this seems to develop a hunting expertise elasmobranchs. This is the group of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks and rays.
There’s another thing about orcas. Technically they’re all one species, but there are differences between groupsknown as ecotypes. These may include subtle physical differences but also include nutritional strategies. Some specialize in eating fish such as salmon; others may prefer a diet sealseven target whales as their chosen prey.
Orcas in the Gulf of California, which includes Moctezuma’s pod, have not been assigned a specific ecotype but are considered opportunistic generalists that hunt and eat anything available. So, are you seeing a subgroup breaking away and starting to specialize? This is quite interesting.
During their survey of orcas in the Gulf of California, scientists not only observed a group of orcas feasting on white sharks on two occasions, but were also able to film the hunts in vivid detail with both drone cameras and underwater cameras.
The results show a thoughtful and coordinated strategy that exploits the sharks’ weakness, namely tonic inactivity. In both cases, a group of five adult orcas were observed approaching a juvenile white shark and working together to flip it upside down.
“This temporary state leaves the shark vulnerable and allows the orcas to remove its nutrient-rich liver and possibly consume other organs before abandoning the rest of the carcass.” Higuera says.
The first incident occurred in August 2020 during a hunt in which two sharks were killed. The second took place in August 2022. This timing suggests there may be a seasonal element to the hunts, possibly related to shark calving season. In both cases, the orcas walked away from the hunt with their prize, leaving the rest of the shark uneaten.
This is because white sharks’ livers are very large and full of nutrients; the the organ acts as a warehouse a rich reward for a hungry orca for the fats and oils that sustain the sharks on their epic migratory journeys. In both hunts, orcas shared the liver with the shell, including the calves.
As for hunting juveniles, researchers believe this practice may be part of a strategy to minimize the risk of injury to hunting orcas.
“Adult white sharks react quickly to orca predation, completely evacuating their seasonal aggregation areas and not returning for months.” says marine ecologist Salvador Jorgensen from California State University.
“But these juvenile white sharks may be naive to orcas. We do not yet know whether white shark flight responses to predators are instinctive or must be learned.”
Win a $10,000 Space Coast Adventure Vacation
There have been several observations of orcas preying on elasmobranchs since the 1990s. including whale sharks.
But so far, Moctezuma’s is the only capsule known to focus so strongly on elasmobranch prey. The team suggests that further research should focus on determining whether orcas regularly prey on white sharks in the Gulf of California and how often such attacks occur.
“Producing information about the extraordinary feeding behavior of killer whales in this region will lead us to understand where their main critical habitat is so we can create protected areas and implement management plans to reduce human impact.” says marine biologist Francesca Pancaldi Dr. from the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine Sciences in Mexico.
The research was published at: Frontiers in Marine Sciences.
