The ocean is a big, dark place, and for decades, we all assumed the great white shark sat comfortably at the very top of the food chain. If you’ve watched Jaws or any Shark Week special, you know the drill. They’re the kings. They’re the apex predators.
Then came Port and Starboard.
These aren't just names for boat sides; they're two notorious male orcas in South Africa with flopped-over dorsal fins. They basically rewrote the biology books. Honestly, the sight of a great white shark hunted by killer whale pods isn't just a freak occurrence anymore—it's a tactical, surgical shift in how the ocean works. And it’s getting weirder.
The Liver Thieves of South Africa
In early 2017, the beaches of Gansbaai started looking like a horror movie set. Giant shark carcasses began washing up, but they weren't shredded. They weren't eaten whole. Instead, they had these neat, almost surgical slits between their pectoral fins.
The rest of the shark? Untouched. The liver? Gone.
It turns out orcas are picky eaters. Shark liver is massive—sometimes weighing hundreds of pounds—and it's packed with squalene, a super-dense, oily compound that provides a massive calorie hit. Think of it like a floating stick of butter for a 12,000-pound whale.
Dr. Alison Towner, a leading shark scientist who has been on the front lines of this study for years, noted that the precision is what’s truly terrifying. These whales aren't just biting; they're using their bodies to ram the sharks, often flipping them upside down to induce "tonic immobility"—a natural trance-like state where the shark just... stops.
Then, they squeeze. Like a tube of toothpaste.
📖 Related: Casualties Vietnam War US: The Raw Numbers and the Stories They Don't Tell You
Not Just a South African Problem
For a while, we thought this was just a "South Africa thing." Maybe Port and Starboard were just two weird outcasts with a specific taste for shark guts.
Nope.
In late 2025, new DNA evidence and drone footage confirmed that this behavior has spread. We’ve now seen a great white shark hunted by killer whale pods in Australia, near Portland in Victoria. Researchers found a carcass with the exact same "liver-only" signature. Swabs of the bite wounds came back as a match for orca DNA.
Then there’s Mexico.
In the Gulf of California, orcas have been filmed repeatedly targeting juvenile great whites in their nursery grounds. It’s not just a survival tactic; it’s a learned culture. Orcas are incredibly social. They teach their kids how to do this. Imagine being a young shark, thinking you're the baddest thing in the water, only to realize there's a 30-foot mammal that knows exactly where your organs are and how to pop them out in under two minutes.
The Lone Hunter: Starboard Breaks the Rules
Orcas are famous for pack hunting. They're the "wolves of the sea." They usually work together to distract a shark while another one hits it from below.
But in June 2023, Starboard decided he didn't need the help.
👉 See also: Carlos De Castro Pretelt: The Army Vet Challenging Arlington's Status Quo
Witnesses on a research boat in Mossel Bay watched as the male orca single-handedly chased down a 2.5-meter (about 8 feet) juvenile great white. He gripped the pectoral fin, ripped the shark open, and was seen swimming past the boat just moments later with a bloody piece of liver in his mouth.
The whole thing took less than two minutes.
That’s a game-changer. If orcas don't even need a pod to take down a great white, the "apex" status of the shark isn't just threatened—it's basically gone.
Why the Sharks are Running Away
Sharks aren't stupid. They have an incredible sense of smell, and they can detect the scent of a dead comrade from miles away.
When a great white shark hunted by killer whale predators dies in a certain area, the rest of the population vanishes. They don’t just move to the next bay. They bail. They go "off-grid" for months or even years.
In Gansbaai, which was once the shark cage diving capital of the world, sightings dropped to almost zero.
This has caused what scientists call a "trophic cascade."
✨ Don't miss: Blanket Primary Explained: Why This Voting System Is So Controversial
- Without great whites, copper sharks (also called bronze whalers) have moved into the shallow waters.
- Then the orcas started eating the copper sharks.
- Because the sharks are gone, the Cape fur seal population is booming.
- The seals are now over-consuming endangered African penguins.
It’s a mess. The arrival of these two orcas has essentially tipped the entire ecosystem over.
What This Means for the Future
Nature is rarely static, but this shift is happening fast. Some experts suggest that orcas are targeting sharks more often because their traditional prey—like certain fish or larger whales—is getting harder to find due to climate change or overfishing.
Others think it’s just a "trend" that’s catching on in the orca world. Because they are so intelligent, once one pod learns a high-reward trick like "shark liver extraction," it spreads through the population like a viral video.
Whatever the reason, the "Great White" isn't the invincible monster we thought it was. It's a vulnerable subadult trying to avoid a highly intelligent, tactical genius with a taste for liver.
Actionable Insights for Ocean Enthusiasts
If you’re heading to South Africa or Australia for shark diving, keep these things in mind:
- Check Recent Sightings: Don't book based on 10-year-old reputations. Check local "Shark Spotter" apps or recent research logs to see if orcas have been in the area. If they have, the sharks are likely 100 miles away.
- Support Adaptive Tourism: Many operators are shifting to "Marine Big 5" tours, which look for whales, seals, and dolphins alongside sharks. This is a more sustainable model as the ecosystem shifts.
- Follow the Research: Organizations like Marine Dynamics or the Dyer Island Conservation Trust provide real-time updates on the Port and Starboard saga.
- Respect the Apex: Understand that an orca's presence isn't "bad"—it's a natural, albeit disruptive, part of marine evolution. They are simply better at being the boss.
The ocean's hierarchy is being rewritten in real-time. We’re just lucky enough to have the drones to watch it happen.
Next Steps: You can monitor the movement of tagged sharks through the OCEARCH tracker or follow the peer-reviewed updates in the African Journal of Marine Science to see if the Gansbaai population ever truly returns to its former glory.