The pictures had been filmed in May and one of many movies first aired in June. (File)

Johannesburg, South Africa:

Scientists have printed new findings confirming that orcas hunt nice white sharks, after the marine mammal was captured on digicam killing one of many world’s largest sea predators.

A pod of killer whales is seen chasing sharks throughout an hour-long pursuit off Mossel Bay, a port city within the southern Western Cape province, in helicopter and drone footage that knowledgeable a scientific examine launched this week.

“This behaviour has never been witnessed in detail before, and certainly never from the air,” stated lead writer Alison Towner, a shark scientist at Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa.

One clip reveals 5 orcas chasing and killing an excellent white and scientists consider three extra had been mauled to dying in the course of the hunt.

“Killer whales are highly intelligent and social animals. Their group hunting methods make them incredibly effective predators,” Simon Elwen, a marine mammal specialist and examine co-author stated in a press release launched Tuesday.

Orcas, the ocean’s high predator, have been recognized to prey on different shark species, however proof of assaults on nice whites was beforehand restricted.

Video of Orcas consuming an excellent white shark I discovered. pic.twitter.com/HxRgigV46k

— 🎃v🎃™(COMMS CLOSED 5/5) (@j_stocky) July 29, 2022

The examine didn’t tackle the explanations behind the behaviour.

One of the whales was recognized to have attacked white sharks earlier than, however the different 4 weren’t.

The authors stated this prompt the observe was spreading, with earlier research having established that the black and white animals can be taught from one different by means of “cultural transmission”.

Sharks disappeared from the realm after the assault, with just one nice white noticed within the subsequent 45 days, in keeping with the paper that was printed in scientific journal Ecology.

The authors stated this confirmed sharks have a flight response and will have broader implications.

In earlier noticed instances, the animals ended up abandoning former key habitats, with penalties for the ecosystem and shark-related tourism, stated marine biologist Alison Kock of South African National Parks.

The pictures had been filmed in May and one of many movies first aired in June.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)