(01-15-2019, 06:23 PM)Sanju Wrote:

South Africa

In May 2017, three great white sharks washed up dead in South Africa, and killer whales are believed to have killed them. On May 3rd a 4.9-meter white shark washed up dead, with a huge wound on her underside and her liver missing. Then the following day a 3.4-meter-long male white shark was found dead, his liver and heart missing. On May 7th a third white shark washed ashore; this time a 4.2-meter male with his liver missing. Scientists suspect killer whales are the culprits of these deaths, likely targeting shark livers for their richness in oil and nutrients. Although predation on white sharks has never been recorded in South Africa, certain ecotypes of killer whales have been observed hunting great whites off Australia and California. Accounts of killer whales hunting other smaller sharks show that they flip them over to induce the sharks' tonic or motionless state, enabling the whales to drown them and feed on them. This is likely the predation tactic these apex predators utilize on white sharks. The ecotype that killed these three sharks off South Africa is unknown via @discoverocean @wildorcinus @dyerict