Normally when killer whales and sharks do battle, it takes place far away from humans, but one recent brawl took place on a New Zealand beach where some were able to witness these titans doing battle. Beachgoers at Blue Cliffs Beach in Tuatapere, New Zealand watched as a pod of orcas forced a group of large sharks to swim into shallow waters or be lunch.
One shark wanted to get away so badly that it beached itself on the sand and was filmed desperately flapping around in an attempt to escape the predators. You can watch it in the video below.
New Zealand marine scientist Clinton Duffy talked about the sophisticated hunting strategy used by the killer whales. “I’d be picking that there’d be several more killer whales in a staggered line out to sea from the beach. So that whale that you see in the surf zone there is probably in there flushing fish offshore for the other ones to catch.” He also added that he had never seen sharks beach themselves in this way before, though other fish species are known to do it.
Watch the below video from National Geographic to see more on how killer whales hunt sharks.
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