Researchers have now documented killer whales (orcas) preying on great white sharks in several ocean regions, revealing a hunting strategy that targets the sharks’ energy‑rich livers. The observations, spanning South Africa, the Gulf of California, California and southeastern Australia, demonstrate that orcas are the only known predators of the apex shark and underscore a shift in marine predator hierarchies.
South African evidence of a lethal partnership
On 3 May 2017 a 1,100 kg female great white washed ashore at Gansbaai, near Cape Town. The shark bore a large gash on its underside and its 90 kg liver had been removed. Alison Towner, a shark biologist at Rhodes University, led the necropsy and recalled the moment: “We were like, ‘What the hell did this?'” She noted that she had examined hundreds of great whites but never seen them wash up in succession.
Repeatedly finding the same pattern of liver extraction, Towner suspected a pair of male orcas nicknamed Port and Starboard. The two individuals, thought to be brothers, were first recorded near Cape Town in 2015 and earned their names from the left‑ and right‑leaning collapse of their dorsal fins. Divers later discovered dead broadnose sevengill sharks with ripped‑open bodies and missing livers, and Towner said, “Port and Starboard arrived, right when the divers were pulling the carcasses out of the water.”
Subsequent sightings placed the duo along the Cape Town coastline, including around Dyer Island—once called “the McDonald’s drive‑through for great whites.” Towner explained, “There was no doubt that Dyer Island was one of the best places on the planet to see a great white,” yet the sharks vanished almost overnight.
The link between the orcas and the shark killings was confirmed on 16 May 2022 when a hobbyist drone captured three orcas attacking a 3 m (10 ft) great white off Mossel Bay, 400 km east of Cape Town. One orca pushed the shark to the surface, rolled it onto its side, bit near the pectoral fins and then dove with the shark in its mouth while another seized the tail.
Global observations and the hunting method
Similar predation events have been recorded elsewhere. In the Gulf of California, marine biologist Erick Higuera reviewed drone footage from 2020 and identified a pod of five orcas, the “Moctezuma pod,” dragging a juvenile great white to the surface, turning it upside down and extracting its liver. He explained that flipping the shark induces tonic immobility, a temporary paralysis that renders the shark inert for less than a minute, allowing the orcas to slice open the abdomen and eat the liver without risking a counter‑attack.
On 18 June 2023, Starboard—one of the South African brothers—was filmed hunting a 2.5 m (8 ft) juvenile great white alone. Within two minutes he killed the shark, removed its liver and surfaced with the organ in his mouth while gulls scavenged the oily residue. The next day a second mutilated shark, 3.5 m (11.5 ft) long, washed ashore nearby, suggesting multiple kills by the solo predator.
Orca predation of great whites has also been confirmed in Australia. In October 2023 a 4.7 m (15.4 ft) shark washed ashore in southeastern Australia missing its liver, digestive and reproductive organs. Forensic analysis revealed killer‑whale DNA in the wounds, marking the first confirmed case of such predation in Australian waters.
Implications for marine ecosystems
Orcas and great whites occupy the top of their respective food webs, competing for seals and dolphins. Towner emphasized that orcas are “very selective of the organs that they gain nourishment from and the liver is the most nutritious part of a shark.” A great‑white liver can constitute up to 28 % of the shark’s body weight, packed with high‑energy lipids.
Scientists suggest that the cultural, pod‑based hunting style of orcas—characterized by coordinated attacks and vocal “dialects”—gives them an edge over solitary great whites. Deborah Giles of the University of California, Davis, noted that increased underwater camera coverage may simply be revealing a behavior that has long existed. She added, “Great white sharks were thought to be the apex predator in the ocean, but it’s very clear that it’s actually killer whales that are the top predator.”
Climate change, according to Higuera, is bringing these apex predators into closer proximity, creating new opportunities for orcas to apply their sophisticated hunting strategies to a new target. The expanding evidence of orca‑shark interactions highlights a dynamic shift in marine predator relationships that could have far‑reaching effects on oceanic ecosystems.
Helene Elliott is the Lead Science & Space Reporter at News Raise. She reports on aerospace missions, astrophysics discoveries, quantum research, and environmental technology.
