
The Predator That Makes Great White Sharks Flee in Fear - gmishuris
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/04/great-white-sharks-flee-killer-whales/587563/
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mark_l_watson
I had a bad experience with a killer whale when I was returning to San Diego
from Catalina Island in my rather small Columbia 22 sailboat (this was around
1977).

A killer whale jumped out of the water to the level of the top of my mast 4
times. Each time it landed horizontally right next to my boat, almost tipping
the boat over with the splash/wave it created. I laid down in the bottom of
the cockpit reaching up to steer my boat and I told my girlfriend to go below
decks and lay on the floor to keep our weight as low in the boat as possible.
At the top of the 4 jumps out of the water, I saw a black beady little eye
staring down at me.

I was very relieved when it left the area.

EDIT: I bought a bigger sailboat

~~~
michaelcampbell
15' jump height on a killer whale. [https://www.reference.com/science/high-
can-killer-whale-jump...](https://www.reference.com/science/high-can-killer-
whale-jump-out-water-137a4e6554eee183)

This Columbia 22 has a mast height over 30'.
[http://www.sailingtexas.com/scolumbia22103.html](http://www.sailingtexas.com/scolumbia22103.html)

I don't sail, so I have nothing to prove, but something doesn't feel quite
right about this story.

~~~
Chunklight
Sailing stories always become a little more dramatic with each retelling. An
orca 15 feet above you on a small boat would be awesome and terrifying in a
way units of measure cannot express.

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michaelcampbell
And also never seen before nor since.

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YeGoblynQueenne
>> “Lions, for example, do not eat a lot of impala, but impala fear lions more
than any other predator on the landscape except humans,”

Probably explains why lions don't eat many impala.

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dustinmoris
Orcas are one of the most amazing animals in my opinion. They are extremely
intelligent and family oriented. There are some great video captures of Orcas
attacking great white sharks by flipping the shark upside down which puts the
shark into paralysis and then they simply kill the shark without any
resistance. The whole encounter doesn't last more than a few seconds this is
how precise and smart these animals are.

Many people are probably familiar with some documentaries where we can see
Orcas hunt in groups to create artificial waves in order to wipe seals off the
ice plates in the Arctic.

I personally was lucky to see Orcas patrol the coastline in Argentina where
Orcas come extremely close to the shore and beach themselves in order to catch
one of the many sea lions which relax there in false sense of security. Once
they get the sea lion they wait for the next wave to help them back into the
water. It's just amazing and one of the best spots on earth to witness
something truly remarkable. The spot is very popular for whales to come and
mate/give birth too so it's well worth to go there for a short break!

If anyone ever visits Argentina make sure to stop by "Valdes Peninsula" and
get a car rental for 1 or 2 days so you can explore the peninsula yourself and
with a bit of luck spot some Orcas!

~~~
nikofeyn
regarding their familial bonds, they are one of three mammals to undergo
menopause, the other two being humans and pilot whales. since orca pods are
matriarchal, this further indicates strong bonds and the fact that the older
female orcas retire from reproduction duties to share that with the younger
females but maintain their leadership roles rather than just dying.

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mikeleung
Orcas eating just the sharks liver is interesting, they have been known to eat
only the tongue of whales, leaving the rest of the carcass. I'm guessing for
similar reasons, tongue being tasty and highly nutritious to them.

This known behavior was used by whalers who had a pact with a group of orca in
Eden, South Wales. In exchange for helping the whalers hunt baleen whales, the
whalers would leave the tongue of the whale to the orcas.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_Sou...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_South_Wales)

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PorterDuff
I wonder if lifeboats couldn't carry a little device that sounds (or smells)
like a killer whale. Maybe sharks are never really that much of a problem.

~~~
GVIrish
There has been a number of experiments that tried to isolate chemicals
produced by the decaying shark flesh to repel sharks. The theory goes that
sharks will avoid the smell of dead sharks, so a few groups I've tried to
isolate those compounds to create a shark repellent. Not sure if any of them
were fully successful.

In the case of the Farallon Islands it might be that once Great Whites can
smell that the orcas have eaten one of their own they know it's time to
escape.

I've seen at least one documentary where smaller sharks disperse when they
hear the calls of orcas. Seems like it could at least be somewhat effective in
areas where orcas regularly prey on sharks.

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umvi
That's amazing that the Orcas have evolved to know how to precisely extract
and consume just the liver of (at least) one specific species in the ocean
that they probably don't consume often

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ForHackernews
It's probably a learned (and taught) behavior, not an evolved instinctive one.
Orcas exhibit complex behaviors that vary from population to population, much
like human cultures: [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/understanding-...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/understanding-orca-culture-12494696/)

~~~
mvidal01
They learn all sorts of stuff - [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-
ponies/the-lege...](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/the-
legend-of-old-tom-and-the-gruesome-law-of-the-tongue/)

~~~
e40
What a wonderful and sad article.

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mips_avatar
Make sure to read the last sentence. I did not expect that.

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davidw
Someone's going to read that in the archives in 10 years and they'll either be
scratching their heads wondering what it is - or singing along.

~~~
mips_avatar
I’m sure 2030’s kids will watch dad memes or something to get educated on
internet history.

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rainydaybook
The obvious question is, do white sharks of similar size flee from Orcas or
ones of smaller size? Otherwise, there's nothing surprising here. There's
examples of Elephants fleeing from large prides of Lions, Lions fleeing from
large packs of hyenas, etc. Similarly a small solitary Orca will likely flee
from a group or a single, much larger, white shark.

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AzzieElbab
"One of the whales rammed and killed the shark, and the duo proceeded to eat
its liver" \- is it hard to get a nice Chianti near the Farallon Islands?

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pensketch
Damn that was a sneaky way to get baby shark stuck in my head.

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laythea
oh no. not on here also.....

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freditup
Clickbait title. Actual title should be: [Orcas] Can Make Great White Sharks
Flee in Fear

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phonypc
Seems innocuous to me. It doesn't give false impressions in the way so many
article titles do these days, just a hook for finding out what the predator
is.

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chrisseaton
> just a hook for finding out what the predator is

That's the problem - click baiting and hiding information.

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nkozyra
Headlines don't need to be this expressive to avoid being clickbait.

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tzfld
ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

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JackFr
I was hoping article was about a new John McAfee kink.

[https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/107986342045807411...](https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1079863420458074112?lang=en)

