The deadly white sharks showed up a larger and bloodthirsty enemy

White sharks are considered among the most bloodthirstymarine predators, however, observations of marine ecologists have proved that even they have the worst enemies, which they should keep away. These enemies turned out to be killer whales - the only cetacean predators who are always willing to eat warm-blooded animals. Comparison of several data sets showed that at the sight of killer whales, white sharks immediately leave their hunting ground, and cetacean predators themselves with particular pleasure eat a certain internal organ of sharks.

These findings were made after studying twodatasets: about the movement of 165 shark-marked GPS sensors from 2006 to 2013, and information on the population of killer whales and seals collected by Point Blue Conservation Science. Also, a team of researchers analyzed four cases of clashes of white sharks and killer whales in the National Marine Reserve Big Farallones.

The data showed that whenever orcasappeared in the hunting zone of white sharks, they immediately swam away and could not appear in this place for a long time. They did not always go far - it was noticed that sometimes they move only to a safe distance along the coast, where they can also find food.

Faced with killer whales, white sharks leave their preferred hunting grounds immediately and may not return a whole year, even if the killer whales have only swam past.

Salvador Jorgensen, ecologist

The fears of white sharks are justified becausetheir length does not exceed 5 meters, while the length of the killer whales can reach 9 meters. It is noteworthy that killer whales always eat shark liver, which is rich in oils and vitamins. It is also known that cetacean predators hunt elephant seals, but attacks are extremely rare.

This is quite a discovery for scientists becausethat to follow the interaction of marine predators is quite difficult. Recently, researchers have made another discovery concerning white sharks - it turned out that their body is so hardy that it can withstand the content of heavy metals in the blood.

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