Climate Adaptation
Orca Attacks Likely Caused Great White Sharks to Vanish Off Cape Town, Experts Say
- Government panel says orca predation most likely explanation
- Orcas attack, kill white sharks, eating only their livers
Photographer: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
A government-appointed panel determined that attacks by killer whales are likely responsible for the disappearance of great white sharks from the waters off Cape Town.
False Bay, which lies off Cape Town’s east coast, has long been famed for the presence of the two-ton sharks that can measure as long as five meters (16 feet). While sightings by shark spotters positioned near beaches averaged 205 from 2010 to 2016, there has now only been one confirmed sighting in over two years.