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Killer whale devours great white shark
As if to show the world which ocean predator is actually in charge, a killer whale annihilated a great white shark--in front of a boat-load of people. Just off the coast of San Francisco, the surprise killing caught whale-watchers off guard. According to National Geographic, the whale came to the water's surface with a great white shark hanging from its mouth.The interesting part? The whale is said to have held the shark in its mouth for about 15 minutes. And, to thicken the already unlikely plot, biologist Peter Pyle was in the area and able to get underwater footage, which revealed two whales feeding on the shark.
This unbelievable twist of nature was dubbed 'The Whale That Ate Jaws' by National Geographic and the footage was aired on the National Geographic channel for the Nature Untamed series. Check out the original story here.
[Thanks, National Geographic 'Nature Untamed']
Filed under: Learning, North America, United States, Ecotourism, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
wes Mar 28th 2011 2:12PM
The Orca attacking the small, juvenile male great white shark -is an old video. As researchers at the Farallons noted at the time, it would be interesting to see what would happen if an orca and a full grown female great white had a run in. That was not the case here -
Bryan Mar 29th 2011 3:09PM
Let's see....teeny tiny brain programmed to eat, swim and mate for the shark - large brain with reasoning abilities for the orca. Guess who I'd bet on.
michelle Mar 29th 2011 3:08PM
Please forgive me, as I am just learning about being on-line, and this type of debate for lack of a better word. I am wondering about your statement (a full grown female great white shark) would be a bad situation is what I got from your note---I am curious are female sharks more aggressive like female dogs(bitches) or like show themselves is because of the massive amount a Stallion vs. a mare??? Generally a mare will win during a fight with a stallion or the stud gives up. Kinda the same thing with the dogs. My dad use to work on the oil rigs before he passed away and my mother a Native Californian I have been to fishermans warf, and seen the amazing amount of sharks there, and my dad use to tell stories of how they had special divers come and use a device that actually electrocuted the massive sting-rays off the legs of the oil rigs. I did not realize the power of these awesome creatures of the oceans/and or sea's, living in Minnesota all we deal with are a few wolves, here and there and maybe a opposome and racoons. Once in a blue moon a bear (black) will show it's self. The only reason these animals even surface is because MAN is logging the land and invading the wild animals territory
Respectfully
Michelle
Stella Vaccaro Mar 28th 2011 2:12PM
Orcas do eat sharks this is not unusual and was first observed by Spanish mariners of the 1600's who wrote about this event...and called the orca "assisin balena" which means of course killer whale. Calling a great white shark "Jaws", eapecially by an esteemed publication as National Geographic is disappointing as this perpetuates the myth of the great white as a "mam eater" which is misrepresenting of this important animal which deserves our respect. This type of media coverage works against the conservations efforts to save the sharks which are being slaughtered by humans in numbers approaching 100 million sharks annually. Recognition should be given to those countries and u.s. States banning possesion or trade of shark fins. Thank you.
Erin Mar 29th 2011 3:11PM
I don't believe the point of this article is about whales eating sharks. The point is the manner in which they are killing the sharks.
By using common terms like "Jaws" to describe a great white shark, it appeals to the regular citizens who aren't the sharpest tools in the shed to begin with.
Douglas G. Mar 28th 2011 8:27PM
Abalone season starts Friday. Yes April Fools Day.
Dave Mar 28th 2011 9:12PM
The Great White Shark is a specimen to behold forsure. As one blogger says it would be another story if the Orca went head to head with a full grown female Great White. I shall agree with this blogger and say maybe one day we'll find out and then the world shall see who really is on the menu.
Troj Mar 29th 2011 3:08PM
Actually Dave the orca is the top predator. Consider that an orca can overturn an ice flow to knock penguins into the water, and couple this with an intelligence that rivals a human's, and in some ways has been hypothesized to exceed it, and you have a mammal that is unmatched in the ocean with, perhaps, the exception of the sperm whale, which is one whale orcas do not seem to attack. A full sized female great white would suffer the same fate, and they have. In fact, researchers have noted that great whites of all sizes leave this area when the L.A. killer whale pod shows up, and these killer whales are small orcas, "pygmies" as one researcher notes. In an article on the National Wildlife Federation, a researcher writes, "Whether the Farallon sharks recognized the killer whales by sight or by sound, the presence of the whales did appear to trigger their hasty exodus. Humans fear the great white shark as the ultimate predator; the sharks may perceive their rank differently." Both are formidable predators highly adapted to their environment. The orca though does take the top position.
bill Mar 28th 2011 9:12PM
So cook to see that the terrifying great white is not on the top of the food chain.
George Mar 28th 2011 9:12PM
Old story, saw it on TV months ago.
azaniel Mar 28th 2011 9:26PM
so!maybe they just wanted to post it now.... we did not ask for the date of when you saw it
Stan Mar 28th 2011 9:06PM
That is some fish story.
Beth McPherson Mar 28th 2011 9:25PM
First of all, it's not too unlikely of a killer whale to do that. I've studied killer whales for a few years in many different places. In the mid and Southern Pacific ocean, they usually kill Great White Sharks. Well, not usually but usually compared to orcas in other places. Second of all, this happened several years ago and the video was made several years ago, so this isn't really recent, like they said. And, just like Stella Vaccaro said, Great White's aren't as aggressive as people think. Great Whites and other sharks got their bad reputation from Jaws. Also, killer whales also got their name from the fact the orcas living in the Northern, Southern, and mid Pacific ocean, kill whales.If you got in the water with one, and just sat there, it wouldn't bother you. You may even think it doesn't know you're there, but it does. Sharks have receptors in their nose area that senses energy. They can pick up your energy.
Beth McPherson Mar 28th 2011 9:25PM
I forgot to add that it's not a very 'unbelieveable twist of nature'. It's actully quite natural and normal for a killer whale to do this.
Joe Mar 28th 2011 10:10PM
Some scientist say that this may not be unusual in areas where the whales and sharks are competing for the same food. I saw one story that said that around the time this video was taken, they noticed a drop in the white shark population and one shark that was satellite tagged dove deep one day and headed for Hawaii. The way the the orcas kill the sharks is to grab them and hold them upside down. Sharks have to swim upright in order to breath. What the whale is doing is suffocating the shark.
As for a full grown shark vs. a full grown orca, the biggest recorded white shark was a hair over 20 feet long and weighed over 7000 pounds. The largest recorded bull orca was 32 feet long and weighed over 20,000 pounds. Not much of a contest. The size difference between the cow orca in this story and the shark she went after is pretty typical.
zubordulo Mar 28th 2011 10:11PM
Perhaps the killer whale wanted to know if the shark's fin really make for a good soup
Bob M. Mar 28th 2011 10:11PM
It's amazing that these scientists forget that theses animals have been in existence for thousand and even millions of years. All scientists have to do is lean back and observe.Chances are these killing techniques are nothing new to the killer whales, but the scientist are just finding this out for themselves!
JoanneVLavender Mar 28th 2011 10:11PM
Hmmmmnnnn. The predator becomes the prey. Works for me. Darwin's theory prevails...the stupid die, and preferably before they breed.
TOM J Mar 29th 2011 3:10PM
I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT KILLER WHALES AND SHARKS BUT WHEN IT COMES TO HUNTING WELL THATS ANOTHER STORE. MY QUESTION IS A FULL SIZE GREAT WHITE TAKEN DOWN BY A KILLER WHALE MAYBE NOT. BUT WHAT IF THE KILLER WHALES WORKED AS A TEAM. THINK ABOUT IT. THESE WHALES LIVE IN A GROUP / FAMILY AND THEY TEACH EACH OTHER. IF IM WRONG PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANKS TJ
LIZ Mar 29th 2011 3:10PM
I HOPE THE WORLD DOESNT THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED.
MAYBE ITS JUST THE FIRST TIME WE GOT IT ON FILM IS ALL.
LIKE DUH????????????
OMG. DO US HUMANS NOT THINK IT HAS EVER HAPPENED B4 UNLESS OUR EYES HAVE SEEN IT?
WE'RE NOT THAT DUMB ARE WE?
I KNOW I AM NOT THAT DUMB.
THERE WAS LIFE BEFORE US AND THERE WILL BE LIFE AFTER US.