Port and Starboard are the names of two notorious killer whales (orcas) that swim off the coast of South Africa. Their names come from their uncommon collapsed dorsal fins: Port’s bends to the left and Starboard’s bends to the fitting. The pair went on a killing spree final week, attacking and killing no less than 17 broadnose sevengill sharks in a single day (February 24, 2023). The whales ate solely the sharks’ livers and left their our bodies to scrub up on the seaside.
This pair of male killer whales gained notoriety in 2015, when scuba divers discovered a number of broadnose sevengill sharks lifeless. Ultimately, researchers fingered killer whales Port and Starboard within the deaths. Then, in 2017 and 2019, nice white sharks have been washing up on the coast with simply their livers eaten out of their our bodies. By 2020, the previously tons of of nice white sharks in South Africa’s False Bay had practically all moved out of the realm. However, as proved final week at Pearly Seashore, two hours east of False Bay, Port and Starboard are nonetheless at it.
Alison Kock, a marine biologist in Cape City, South Africa, shared the information on Twitter.
A minimum of 17 sevengill #sharks have been killed by notorious #killerwhale pair Port & Starboard this week in South Africa. Solely the livers have been eaten with the leftover carcasses washing ashore [1/3] ? @MarineDynamics Christine Wessels pic.twitter.com/PQVk1KI9mF
— Dr. Alison Kock (@UrbanEdgeSharks) February 24, 2023
Why eat simply their livers?
Repeatedly, the washed-up carcasses of the sharks reveals that the killer whales are simply targeting the sharks’ livers. The killer whales are biting the sharks between their pectoral fins, yanking out the livers and forsaking the opposite organs. The killer whales should have realized sooner or later the place to search out this tasty meal and remembered it, as a result of they go away behind no chew marks on different elements of the sharks’ our bodies.
However why the liver? Livers in sharks are massive: They account for as much as a 3rd of a shark’s physique weight. And, they’re wealthy in fats, filled with vitamins the whales want.
Video of killer whales searching sharks
Final October, Kock was a part of a staff that published the primary proof of orcas killing nice white sharks. Within the paper with lead creator Alison Towner, the staff shared photos from drone footage that captured the killer whales searching and consuming the livers out of nice white sharks. Christiaan Stopforth took the video, which you’ll watch a part of right here:
Killer whales usually are not a risk to people
Regardless of the grotesque feeding frenzy off the coast of South Africa, killer whales pose no risk to people. In response to LiveScience, there is no such thing as a file of a killer whale within the wild ever killing a human. A killer whale’s food regimen usually consists of seals, squid, fish and so forth. People usually are not on the listing. Though now it seems that sharks are.
Alternatively, 4 people have died by the hands of killer whales in captivity. Three of these deaths have been all as a result of similar killer whale, Tilikum, or Tilly. Tilly spent most of his life at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. The acclaimed documentary Blackfish chronicles the story of Tilly and the three tragic deaths.
Their floppy fins
Why are Port and Starboard’s dorsal fins floppy as an alternative of upright? Simon Elwen at Sea Search answered that query for Shark Spotters at their Facebook page:
Male orcas are famend for having extraordinarily massive, upright dorsal fins … Dorsal fins which can be bent over or collapsed are comparatively widespread in orcas which can be in captivity, however solely seen not often in wild killer whales. In captivity, it’s thought that the dorsal fins might bend over as a result of the orcas are at all times swimming on the water’s floor, with the fin typically protruding of the water into the air … The fins are constructed from cartilage and are very heavy on account of their dimension, and so with out the assist of water they’re extra prone to bend over.
Within the wild, bent dorsal fins are mostly related to harm, corresponding to an entanglement. Nonetheless, though uncommon, there does look like some pure prevalence of bent dorsals amongst wild populations … One principle is that it may very well be food regimen associated. And particularly in shark-eating orcas corresponding to Port & Starboard, it may very well be that they aren’t consuming sufficient calcium or different important minerals for sturdy dorsal progress. Pollution may very well be one other potential trigger, particularly as shark-eating orcas are consuming prey which can be on the high of the meals chain and so … have increased ranges of pollution than decrease order prey.
These two killer whales, anyway, are actually residing as much as their identify.
Backside line: The killer whales Port and Starboard killed 17 broadnose sevengill sharks in a single day off the coast of South Africa, eating on their livers after which letting the our bodies wash ashore.
