Two orcas devour 17 shark livers in killing spree and disrupt the marine hierarchy

Two adult male killer whales in South Africa went on a killing spree last week, attacking 17 sharks only to eat their livers, leaving their carcasses to wash up on shore.

Last week’s feeding frenzy at Pearly Beach showed that the two were still at it and en route to overturning the marine hierarchy.

The broadnose sevengill shark, named after their number of gill slits, had moved up the marine food chain in the absence of the great whites, making them more populous and an easier pick for the orcas. 

“Great whites and sevengills are the most important top predators in their ecosystems, with a key role in keeping their environments clean and diverse,” Alison Kock, a marine biologist who has been studying Port and Starboard for years, wrote on Twitter.

“The abrupt loss of such a large number of sharks will inevitably change how the food web works and the behaviour of the hunted sharks, whose numbers are already low.”