Orca Attacks Likely Caused Great White Sharks to Vanish Off Cape Town, Experts Say
Orca Attacks Likely Caused Great White Sharks to Vanish Off Cape Town, Experts Say
(Bloomberg) -- 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.
While theories for their departure included climate change and over-fishing of their prey species, their disappearance also coincided with the arrival in False Bay of two killer whales, also known as orcas, who go by the names of Port and Starboard, who prey on the sharks, often eating only their livers. Orcas can weigh as much as 5.4 tons and measure eight meters.
The “sharks panel has, amongst other things, noted with concern the disappearance of the white sharks from eco-tourism hotspots,” South Africa’s environment ministry said in a statement. It determined that it was likely “a result of recent orca occurrence and predation, rather than being related to the fishing activity of the demersal shark long-line fishery.”
Shark-viewing from boats and submerged cages has been one of the attractions offered to Cape Town tourists.
The panel’s full findings will be released on Nov. 17.
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