Killer whales swarm and chase great white sharks in heart-racing footage
The real-life sequel to Jaws has been documented on video.
Most people know great white sharks as the ferocious predators with 80 fatal human attacks to their name. But it turns out that despite their intimidating size and power - there's something even more threatening lurking in the waters.
Footage filmed by Elton Polly in 2019 captured the exact moment a group of great whites try and desperately get away from a pod of killer whales, which can weigh up to four times as much, and nearly twice as big.
Dorsal fins can be seen breaking the surface as the orcas make a beeline for the shark - with one witness declaring: "That shark is scared."
One of the sharks, a smaller dark shape under the surface of the water, is just seconds ahead of a giant killer whale which can be seen clearly when it breaks through the waves. A second killer whale then circles around the outside and prevents the sharks from changing course.
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In the heart-racing video, it almost appears as if the orcas are using teamwork to herd the sharks — but it not clear if it is merely a fun game or dinner for the predators.
One shark appeared 'unnerved' (Oceans Research)South Africa's Seal Island off the coast of Mossel Bay – where the video was taken – is a favourite hunting ground of the great white shark. Oceans Research shared the footage on Facebook and confirmed that killer whales were chasing the sharks in the video caption.
The group wrote: "Orcas were spotted chasing a white shark, and a few other white sharks were in the vicinity at the time. One white shark appears to be unnerved by the presence of the orcas, but another shark didn't seem too perturbed."
"We'll monitor the orca and white shark activity over the next few days, to see if there are any behavioural changes." Conservationist Richard Peirce previously told Daily Star Online that great white sharks are being hunted and killed by killer whales, also known as orcas, who feast on their livers.
The first documented sighting of killer whales eating great white sharks was back in 1997 off the Farallon Islands, near San Francisco. Startled whale-watching tourists watched a pair of orcas kill a great white before consuming its liver.
Two killer whales, nicknamed Port and Starboard, have since been observed to rip out shark livers with surgical precision.
Oceans Research shared the footage on Facebook (Oceans Research)Earlier this year, locals in a UK coastal town were sent into a frenzy when they were sent an alert for a great white shark alert. However, it was meant for a place in New Zealand with the same name.
People who had set up Google alerts for Fortrose in the Scottish Highlands were cautioned about a giant sea predator in their shores. But, the appeal was actually by New Zealand-based Shark Experience encouraging residents to take to the beaches on the other side of the world in search of a tag that had been shed from a great white.
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