Though sharks have always been feared to be one of the most dangerous marine species, this rare instance shows a school of killer whales preying on a shark fish, showing how they could be the most dangerous of them all.
The amazing video has been shot by a wildlife photographer Slater Moore while he was whale watching in California's Monterey Bay. Moore observed the hunting behaviour of these killer whales and captured the rare footage.
This group of killer whales is called orca (Orcinus orca), which is a toothed whale.
In the shot video, the shark appears to be alive initially but the killer whales hunted it down. According to scientists, the sharks are pursued and killed by the whales after they examine what stomach content of dead whales they have washed ashore, as reported by mnn.com.
Such an encounter is very rare as whales are hardly heard of killing and eating sharks is nearly unheard of. The group of killer whales comprised of three whales.
These whales are said to be a part of an offshore subspecies. Way back in 1988, these whales were recognised as a distinct subspecies, which are found to travel long distances along the West Coast in the ocean. The hunting habits of this species were rarely observed.
This video by the wildlife photographer was posted on Facebook. The video shows an adult shark tussling and fighting for its life. The fins of the shark were bitten by this group of deadly orca after which the shark was flipped towards its back.
The orca deliberately turned the shark upside-down in its mouth to paralyse it, said marine expert Mary Jane Schramm, as per a Daily Mail report.
These three sharks were part of a larger school of killer whales comprising of 25 more orcas who swarmed the carcass of the shark soon.
