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World's First Aerial Footage Of Killer Whales Hunting And Killing Great White Sharks Is Nature At Its Most Unforgiving

Astonishing footage has shown a pair of orcas attacking and killing a great white shark.

Sharks have long been considered the biggest predator of the world's oceans - but it seems like there's a serious contender.

Back in 2022, a team of scientists used a drone to capture an aerial view of two orcas launching an hour long attack against the ocean's most feared predator in Mossel Bay, South Africa. Watch the astonishing footage here:

It's no secret that orcas are capable of causing serious damage to sharks, however it's never been caught on camera in this detail before.

The footage was recorded as part of a wider study from The Ecological Society of America's journal Ecology, with the research shedding new light on the behaviour of killer whales.

"This behaviour has never been witnessed in detail before, and certainly never from the air," lead author Alison Towner, a senior shark scientist at Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa said of the footage.

Reports of predatory activity from killer whales has been reported on this stretch of South African coastline, which is south of Cape Town.

The footage shows two orcas attacking a great white shark. (Sea Search Research and Conservation)

Researchers believe the behaviour is also spreading amongst orcas, with several more clips of the animals attacking sharks surfacing across the years.

It's believed that orcas are killing the sharks in order to eat the animals' nutrient rich liver, with the aerial footage showing the killer whale biting into the shark's liver.

One of the orcas is so infamous for his hunting tactics that he's been named Starboard and is the usual suspect whenever these attacks occur, he also a fellow orca associate named Port who helps in the attacks.

Speaking about Starboard's killer reputation David Hurwitz, a boat-based whale-watching operator from Simon's Town Boat Company, said in 2022 that this behaviour was 'really something else'.

"I first saw Starboard in 2015 when he and his close-associated Port were linked to killing seven gill sharks in False Bay," he said.

Orcas are one of the most deadly predators in the ocean. (Getty Stock Image)

"We saw them kill a bronze whaler [copper shark] in 2019 – but this new observation is really something else."

Further research across the years has suggested the change in orca behaviour could signal a wider change in the ecosystem.

More recent footage has seen Starboard heading out to hunt alone, a change from previous research with suggested that orcas hunted in groups.

"Over two decades of annual visits to South Africa, I've observed the profound impact these killer whales have on the local white shark population," Dr Primo Micarelli told the African Journal of Marine Science after witnessing the attack in person.

"Despite my awe for these predators, I'm increasingly concerned about the coastal marine ecology balance."

This Man Is Solo Sailing The Pacific Ocean And I'm Seasick Just Watching

The internet is obsessed with an American former teacher who is solo sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a quest that is equal parts entertaining, and terrifying.

Luke is circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean from Seattle in a 27-foot yacht and documenting the whole thing on his social media accounts — @sailing_songbird. But his recent update has fans feeling particularly seasick.

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At the one-month mark after leaving Seattle and setting sail, Luke shared his location on Google Maps and honestly, I have scurvy just looking at it.

"For reference I'm about as far away from land as you can be on this planet," he said in the video, which showed his pin to be "well over 1,000 miles away from any piece of land."

In the video, he was seen paddleboarding out in the open ocean in an attempt to get some "exercise". But this wasn't a tropical beach in Fiji that he was paddleboarding through, it was the doldrums.

For those unfamiliar with nautical jargon, the "doldrums" refers to the low-pressure belt near the equator, where there is no wind. While this may sound like paradise compared to other choppy waters, it is perhaps equally dangerous because you run the risk of being stranded for weeks without wind to carry you out.

Luke's location. (Image: @sailing_songbird)

Fans are captivated by Luke's story of why he embarked on the mammoth trip because, well, he's just a guy who wanted to do a thing.

"Last year I was a middle school music teacher and had the dream of sailing around the world," he said earlier this year.

"So, I quit my job and sold what little I had, bought this Vancouver 27 and spent seven months in the yard fixing it up.

"Last October, I pushed off from Seattle and sailed all the way down to Mexico."

One interesting update Luke shared was his sleeping arrangement while sailing on a "rough" night.

"People want to know what its like sleeping on a small sailboat in the middle of the Pacific," he said in the video, which depicted him being tossed around the cabin.

"It's night 18, sailing across the Pacific alone and when there's high seas this is what it's like to sleep."

While his sleeping arrangement may have you glad you're not the one in the middle of the Pacifc Ocean, other updates have me a little jealous.

After nearly a month alone in the ocean, he shared an update on Day 27 that showed a huge pod of what appeared to be false killer whales swimming alongside him.

While most of us will never dare to sail across the Pacific Ocean, especially not alone, it is certainly enjoyable to watch someone else do it from the comfort of my couch.

Are Viral Pictures Of A Killer Whale Spotted Off The Outer Banks Coast Real?

Internet sleuths have taken to Reddit, claiming pictures of an Orca on the Outer Banks circulating online are fake

BUXTON, N.C. — It started with a Facebook post.

It was posted by a local tackle shop in Buxton, North Carolina, and it told the story of a woman who claimed to have spotted an orca off the coast of the Outer Banks while vacationing with her 10-year-old son.

The woman described the sighting as a "SeaWorld performance" and the pictures went viral.

But then internet sleuths took to Reddit and claimed the pictures were fake and pulled from an old Powerade commercial.

We found that old Powerade commercial. Sure enough, right at the 14-second mark, you see why there was skepticism. The woman's supposed picture appears to line up perfectly with a frame from the commercial.

The post from the tackle shop has since been taken down.

We reached out to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. They responded in a statement, saying, "Our IT departments are working to verify the authenticity of two photos that were shared with us and with the NC Aquariums. Orcas have been photographed off the NC coast. NC waters have an impressive diversity of marine mammals."

Pictures and videos of a pod of killer whales were, in fact, taken off the Oregon Inlet in 2011.

However, on the Division's website, they also say killer whales are "…a very rarely seen marine mammal in NC waters, seldom seen on boat trips, even well offshore."

While we can't say for certain whether the photos posted on Facebook are fake, there is an obvious resemblance to that old Powerade commercial.

We also reached out to the woman whose son is said to have taken the picture, but we have not heard back at this time.

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