killer whale vs great white shark – the Showdown
The branding of orcas as killer whales is usually quite a misleading one. There’s only been one fatal encounter between the orca species and humans for example, and they look friendly as hell in Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, and, of course, 2010’s Free Willy: Escape From Pirate’s Cove.
6 Terrifying Shark Attack Near-Misses
Now, while our statement about the laissez-faire nature of the whales in the above Free Willy sequels is entire presumptive – we’re sure we’re not the only ones who just learned there were four films in the franchise – we do know that sightings of the animals on the attack are incredibly rare.
“They worked their way to the back of the boat, circling the shark and pushing it under water…”
So, when we heard that 23 tourists near the North Neptune Islands in Australia had just watched some orcas mauling a great white shark to death, it kind of grabbed our attention.
We certainly don’t remember that happening in Escape From Pirate’s Cove (which again, we haven’t seen), but National Geographic have covered the battle wonderfully before:
On this more recent occasion, the tourists witnessed nature truly in full flow, as a pod of six orcas, including two youngsters, decided to beat the shit out of a great white shark.
Killer whales actually come from the dolphin family of course, which isn’t exactly known for getting too involved in the thug life.
Rumour has it however, that the shark was a member of a rival mafia family, and was next in line to take over from his father. Reports suggest that the shark was on his way home from a confrontation with his brother-in-law when he was ambushed by the whales at a set of traffic lights, and brutally murdered.
Or maybe that’s just the plot of The Godfather. Either way, the story of the attack down under is certainly a compelling one.
“We use music to attract the sharks,” said Kym Shepperd, the captain of the Adventure Bay Charters ship that saw the chaos occur. ” Some people actually thought we were playing whale sounds as a joke.
“The orcas worked their way to the back of the boat, circling the shark and pushing it down under the water.
“They did that a couple of times, then on the third time everything went quiet and it was all over. It was absolutely epic.”
Epic it may have been for Mr. Shepperd, but it may not be so entertaining when he has to break the news to the rest of the shark’s underwater family. Check out the brutal footage of the attack.
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