By DIVE Staff
Port and Starboard, the orca pair that were first observed predating great white sharks in 2017, were recently found to have killed as many as 17 sharks in a single day, according to researchers at Marine Dynamics.
The orcas, known to have preyed on several different species of shark in South Africa, were tracked offshore at Pearly Beach, near Gansbaai, by a team of scientists on board a Marine Dynamics vessel.
More about orca predation of Sharks
At least 17 sevengill #sharks have been killed by infamous #killerwhale pair Port & Starboard this week in South Africa. Only the livers were eaten with the leftover carcasses washing ashore [1/3] 📸 @MarineDynamics Christine Wessels pic.twitter.com/PQVk1KI9mF
— Dr. Alison Kock (@UrbanEdgeSharks) February 24, 2023
‘We observed the two orcas repeatedly diving down in a small area for almost two hours before they departed offshore,’ said Marine Dynamics researcher, Ralph Watson, in a post on group’s Facebook page.
The following Tuesday, eleven deceased Broad nose seven-gill shark carcasses were retrieved from the same beach by Watson and the MDA team.
‘This research is part of a coordinated effort between various killer whale and shark scientists; it has been ongoing since 2015,’ said Alison Towner, a PhD candidate at Rhodes University who leads the research into orca predation of sharks around Gansbaai, and who performed necropsies on some of the dead sharks.
‘Each seven-gill shark was torn open and missing its liver,’ she said; ‘they were all females measuring between 1.6-2.3 metres and had similar injuries to those killed in False Bay by the same orca pair.’
According to the statement from Marine Dynamics, ‘storm and surge conditions had provided good conditions to push the shark carcasses ashore.’
‘This is the largest amount of sharks these orcas have killed in this area in one sitting,’ said Towner. ‘There could well be more that didn’t wash out.’
See more from Marine Dynamics at: www.sharkwatchsa.com; Facebook @MarineDynamics
