Did you know that it has been confirmed that Australian orcas (killer whales) are targeting great white sharks?
Scientists recently confirmed that a great white shark, which was found washed up dead on a beach in Victoria in 2023 was in fact killed by killer whales for its liver.
But how did they prove this?
The evidence came from the wounds inflicted on the great white shark – the shark had a massive bite of approximately 50 cm in diameter near its pectoral fin. DNA swabs were taken from this wound to find out what had caused the massive wound. Scientists were able to confirm the presence of killer whale DNA in the major bite area, and these findings provided evidence of killer whale predation on great white sharks in Australia. The results also revealed that there was a strong selective consumption, and that the killer whales in Australia do indeed kill great white sharks for their livers.
It has already been well-documented that killer whales selectively feed on the liver of great white sharks in South Africa. This new research now suggests that the selective feeding behaviour by killer whales could actually be more globally widespread than originally believed.
