Killer whales rip apart great white shark in terrifying drone footage

Orcas attack a great white shark (Image credit: SharkWeek/Twitter)

Terrifying footage has captured the moment a pack of orcas attacked and killed a nine-foot great white shark. This is the first time ever orcas have been filmed preying on a great white shark. The footage was recorded by a drone in South Africa's Mossel Bay, according to 9 News.

The video shows two orcas or killer whales swimming towards the shark. A third appears from underneath the shark and attacks it. The whales reportedly ripped the shark’s liver apart and made a meal of it.

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The video was shown as part of Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’ and created quite the stir among researchers and biologists, since this is the first time ever that such behaviour has been captured on camera.

"It's one of the most incredible pieces of natural history ever captured on film," said Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, to the Daily Beast. "We are looking forward to sharing the science behind this and the rest of the interaction soon, and trust me there is more.

“But this is the world’s first drone footage of killer whales predating on a white shark. It’s the first time in South Africa it’s ever been documented as direct evidence,” she added.

The clip provides a better understanding of how great white population off the coast of South Africa has dwindled since orcas started hunting them.

In a paper published in the African Journal of Marine Science, Towner said that eight dead great whites have washed ashore since 2017, and all of them were killed by orcas.