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A pair of killer heavyweight has ship on yet another killing fling , eating the livers of 19 broadnose sevengill shark ( Notorynchus cepedianus ) and leaving their carcasses to wash ashore off the coast of Pearly Beach , a small town located along the southernmost tip of South Africa .
The baffling carnage caught the attention ofAlison Kock , a marine life scientist with South African National Parks whotweetedabout the " infamous " duo of male orcas ( Orcinus orca ) get laid as Port and Starboard and the alimentation fury that ensue on Feb. 23 .
The remains of one of the 19 sevengill sharks killed in a single day by an orca gang in South Africa.
However , this is n’t the first time that the orca duo has play mayhem in this surface area . In 2017 , the pairslaughtered at least eight great lily-white shark . And in all but one case theydined solely on the sharks ' liver , leaving the rest of their bodies to decompose .
So , what is it about shark livers that seemingly whet the appetite of these line of descent - thirsty orcas ?
come to : Photos : Orcas are chowing down on great - white - shark organ
Port and Starboard, a pair of killer whales, on the hunt for fresh shark livers.
In her tweet , Kock explained that " they in all likelihood ab initio hear by experience when first antecede a novel metal money , " meaning that once the killer were cognizant of the liver ’s location on a shark " they will remember it always and become more efficient [ hunters ] . "
It also assist that shark liver are " highly nourishing and have big measure of fats and vitamin , " Kock told Live Science in an electronic mail . " Orcas may have learned that consuming shark liver provides high free energy and nutrients . Sharks ' livers are large and perky , and they float to the Earth’s surface of the piddle when a shark is killed . This makes them easy for orcas to blob and accession , compared to other organs that may sink to the bottom or be harder to locate . "
Similar to tag team wrestling , orcasoften hunt in radical or pairs so they can tree sharks . This is important because this give them an advantage over their prey .
" One orca may deflect the shark while another go in for the kill , " Kock say . " This hunting strategy requires eminent intelligence and social cooperation among the orcas . The Orcinus orca may also use their large derriere to slap and incapacitate shark or flip-flop them over to induct fresh immobility . Tonic stationariness takes place when a shark is riff upside down and goes into a spell - similar land . "
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Kock read this kind of behavior has been documented worldwide , including in South America , North America , Australia and New Zealand . However , it was n’t until moderately late that these attack were becoming more humdrum amongst sevengill and great whites in South Africa . And the fact that so many sharks break on a single day raise concern .
" This is a expectant act for a single 24-hour interval of hunt , " Kock wrote in her email . " However , the real impingement is not on the number of sevengills killed but on how the sharks respond to predation risk by leaving an area , sometimes abandoning aggregation sites . The absence of these top predators ( the shark ) could have whack - on impingement on the local ecosystem . "
