Posted on 07/06/2022 6:10:30 PM PDT by Capt. Tom
A pair of orcas killing great white sharks by ripping open their torsos for their livers — and as a result scaring away great whites from a South African region — has raised questions about whether that could happen along Cape Cod.
But it’s “really too early to say” if killer whales will descend upon the Massachusetts coast and drive away the growing great white shark population, a local shark expert tells the Herald.
“When there have been orca sightings here through the years, they’ve never really seemed to impact the white sharks in the area,” said John Chisholm, who is with the New England Aquarium and verifies shark sighting reports on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app.
“Will we see what happened in South Africa happen here? Time will tell,” he added. “We just have to wait and see.”
The two killer whales that have been terrorizing great whites off the coast of South Africa have driven away sharks from their aggregation site, a new study reveals.
The shark researchers used long-term sightings and tagging data to show that the great whites have been avoiding certain regions of the Gansbaai coast because they’re afraid of being hunted by orcas.
Since 2017, eight great whites have washed up on shore following an orca attack. Seven of them had their livers removed, and some had their hearts taken out, too.
Their wounds were distinctively made by the same pair of orcas, which have likely killed more great whites that haven’t washed up on shore.
Before the orcas arrived, Gansbaai was a world-renowned place for spotting great whites, with tourists across the globe visiting and partaking in cage diving.
“The more the orcas frequent these sites, the longer the great white sharks stay away,” said Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust.
The South African sea’s ecosystem is changing as a result of the orca attacks.
“It has triggered the emergence of a new mesopredator to the area, the bronze whaler shark — which is known to be eaten by the great white shark — and these bronze whalers are also being attacked by the orcas too,” Towner said.
With no great whites in the area, seals can prey on critically endangered African penguins or compete for the small fish they eat.
In May, an orca was spotted by a fisherman off Cape Cod, which is not a common sighting in the waters off Massachusetts.
The orca was later identified as “Old Thom” by Chisholm. Old Thom has been spotted in the region in past years and has a unique notch in his dorsal fin.
Over the years, there have not been any reports of orcas and sharks interacting around here.
“Of the sharks we tagged, there doesn’t seem to be a change in behavior when the orcas are present,” Chisholm said. “So in terms of the Cape, it’s really too early to say if orcas will come and have an impact here.”
Out of that huge ocean, on the other side of the world, are two orcas and they worry about Massachusetts.
Ridiculous.
Simple. Require the orcas to get permits. And report them to the HOA.
I’ve heard of sea lions boarding boats in situations like that.
There is the case of the Australian Orcas that used to alert whalers to where the whales were located so they could eat the whale tongues after they had been harpooned.
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There was a fascinating book telling this story, read it long ago. Can’t remember the book title, but here are some details https://thewest.com.au/travel/australasia/man-and-orca-combined-to-hunt-for-whales-in-eden-ng-b881089423z
I thought that only happened in Vegas?
I heard one great white complaining to another, this place has really gone down hill, to violent now that the orcas are here. The other great white said, I have heard of this great place up north lots of seals, they call it cape cod.
Killer Whales are actually dolphins - really big dolphins.
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Interesting. Had to look up what differentiates dolphins and whales and it looks like one of the primary differences is dolphins have teeth!
Of course ‘killer dolphin’ just doesn’t have the cachet of the name ‘killer whale’.
“Two orcas killing great white sharks are scaring away sharks in South Africa. Could that happen along Cape Cod?”
Sure. Throw in Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg. Wait 2 minutes for them to get hungry again and then toss in HRC.
“experts” LOL
FREE WILLY!!
Yes, the summer Shark Week is upon us.
Funny how that works eh? Sort of like that definition of democracy as two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
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