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An incredible scene has gone viral in these hours on social media. In it you can see an orca that was part of an attack group with two others brutally ripping out the liver of a five meter long great white shark, while the other two observe the once blue waters of Mossel Bay, South Africaturn red with blood before the shark sinks to the bottom of the sea.
The wild story was captured on camera by a drone flying overhead and now offers scientists a better understanding of why these large predators they seem to be fleeing this region which was once the shark capital of the world.
Killer whales are known to feast on the liver of a great white shark, such as the organ is large, fat and has become a favorite dish of whales: at least eight shark carcasses found off the Western Cape coast in 2017 have been recorded in recent years, and all were missing livers.
Three killer whales chased, killed and ate the liver of a great white shark. The image shows blood mixed in water.
The images in question are part of the work of the marine biologist Alison Towner with white sharks. She shared it on her Instagram page calling it “one of the most incredible pieces of natural history ever captured on film”. The clip, which is the first to show a killer whale eating the liver of a great white shark, aired on Discovery’s Shark House.
Great whites normally congregate in the waters around South Africa due to the large population of sea lions Cape, which are the main food source for the predator.
However, there are fewer and fewer white sharks due to killer whale attacks, the only animal on earth capable of defeating the Great Bank.
The exact moment when one of the killer whales bites the liver of the great white shark.
Scientists have found evidence that sharks are cracking open and eating their fatty livers. Scientists speculate that this behavior may be behind the disappearance of great white sharks False waters of the bayoff Cape Town.
Killer whales are likely to attack shark livers directly because they are high in fat and delicious. “People do the same thing with butter or bacon. That’s why we love fatty foods. The same thing happens to killer whales, they find it very tasty,” she says. Scott Andersonseasonal researcher Monterey Bay Aquarium
And the white shark’s liver is a key organ in keeping the huge fish alive. And it is also a hearty meal for killer whales, as on average, It weighs between 250 and 280 pounds of rich, fatty meat.
Source: Clarin
