Stories1 min(s) read
Published 16:43 17 Jul 2020 GMT
A great white shark has been caught on video footage hunting down and killing a much larger humpback whale for the first time, the Times reports, leading to speculation from scientists that the shark in question was “an experienced whale killer”.
Drone footage captured in South Africa shows the incident, during which the great white shark takes 50 minutes to kill its 10-meter long prey.
“The shark was very strategic about it, there was no hesitation, it was as if she knew exactly how to go about it,” marine biologist Ryan Johnson said of the attack. "He was observing the whale when the shark began its attack."
You can watch the dramatic footage of the attack right here:
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"The first strike was at the whale’s tail, the skinny part above the flukes where she could get her mouth all the way around.
"She managed to open a vein and blood immediately started pluming out." Johnson continued.
Per the Metro, the incident took place off the coast of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. The great white in question is actually already known to researchers, who have dubbed the predator Helen.
"Helen looked very informed about what she was doing, which made me curious about whether she was an experienced whale killer, was acting on instinct or on plain intelligence by detecting her prey was weak," Johnson said.
And this is far from the only time researchers have been confounded by the behavior of sharks. Previously, an injured 1,000-pound great white shark was found to have been attacked by an even bigger creature, it was reported.
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"It was clear that something had just grabbed his entire head," Chris Fischer from OCEARCH said. "It was a very large animal that grabbed it, something significantly bigger... anything that can grab an animal like that by the head is pretty impressive".
