Rare drone video shows moment orcas kill great white shark and eat its liver
The pod of orcas circle the 2.7 metre great white shark in slow and calm movements before they launch at it.
The coordinated attack was captured from above by a drone in South Africa's Mossel Bay and it has marine biologists very excited.
The vision, first shared with Daily Beast for Discovery Channel's highly-anticipated Shark Week, is a world-first.
It shows one of the orcas ripping out the shark's liver and eating it.
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Three orcas were filmed preying on the great white, which measured 2.7 metres. Discovery Channel
It comes weeks after research concluded a pair of "serial" killer whales were responsible for great white carcasses washing up off the coast of Gansbaai in 2017, a former hotspot for the large fish.
Addressing the clip, lead author Alison Towner, a senior white shark biologist at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, said the footage was "incredible".
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One of the orcas attacks the great white shark's side and eats its liver. Discovery Channel
"(It's) one of the most incredible pieces of natural history ever captured on film," she said.
"We are looking forward to sharing the science behind this and the rest of the interaction soon, and trust me there is more."
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Since 2017 eight dead great whites have washed up on the Gansbaai coast. Dyer Island Conservation Trust
The paper, published in African Journal of Marine Science, said eight dead great whites have washed ashore since 2017, all were the victims of orca attacks.
Seven of the sharks had livers removed, while some had their hearts removed too.
It was concluded the wounds were the signatures of the same two orcas, which may be members of a rare shark-eating morphotype.
The orcas have caused the remaining population of sharks to flee the waters they once dominated.
The rare drone vision will debut in the special Shark House and comes days after another stunning clip was released.
The first video showed the moment a 4.8-metre great white shark broke through the plastic cage of a diver, forcing him to make a desperate swim for safety.
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