Marine scientists doing research off the coast of South Africa had noticed a decrease in the number of great white sharks. Over the years, investigations suggested that these gigantic sea creatures, reaching 6.1 meters in length, fell victim to orcas (killer whales). Now, there has been a new development on this subject.
A person who used a drone as an amateur in the town of Mossel, located in the southernmost part of South Africa, allowed us to witness an event that has never been seen before. The amateur drone pilot, who saw something strange in the open sea, managed to record the moments when the great white shark preyed on the orca when he flew to the area. In parallel, the authorities, who made observations with a helicopter, were able to obtain images similar to the ones recorded with the drone. Thus, for the first time in history, the moments when the great white shark was defeated by the killer honey were recorded from the air.
It was understood that killer whales attacked as a team
By examining the images obtained, scientists also understood how killer whales preyed upon great white sharks. So much so that the killer whales cooperated seriously and did not leave any chance of escape to their prey. Images obtained through both helicopter and drone revealed that killer whales both attacked together and observed the environment during the attacks. This finding was important because only three studies have been done on killer whale attacks on great white sharks.
Marine scientists, who examined the images obtained, announced that the killer whales in the drone and helicopter cameras were the same group. So there was a group of killer whales off the coast of South Africa, and this group was hunting great white sharks in the area.
By the way; The images obtained expanded the scope of research in the region. Examining the images on the drone, experts detected 10 great white sharks in the region. A few weeks after the attack, not a single shark remained in the area. Experts think that this may be because the attacks continue. However, it is not known exactly whether all great white sharks were prey or escaped attack by killer whales.
Here are hunting images compiled from drone and helicopter
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