We like to think of sharks as being at the top of the underwater food chain, happily terrorizing the ocean’s fish, sea lions, and other marine mammals while remaining free from harm themselves.
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From Kataoka’s footage of the false killer whales, it’s impossible to say exactly what kind of shark was attacked.
Bruno Kataoka was flying his drone off the coast of Cronulla when he spotted several false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) hunting down a shark.
The aerial footage taken off the coast of Cronulla, a Sydney suburb, offers a glimpse into the behaviour and feeding habits of false killer whales, a species rarely seen in the wild, let alone caught on film.
And because I know you were wondering, despite the similar name, false killer whales have nearly nothing in common with killer whales (apart from living in the ocean). They tire it out, and eventually the leader grabs Young Jaws in its, well, jaws, and that’s a wrap. “It was exciting, it was a really exciting moment”, he told 7 News. “National Geographic guys wait months to get such a thing”. The juvenile shark looks about as big as a Jolly Rancher in the massive mouth of its killer.
Marine biologist Georgina Wood revealed how fortunate Bruno was to catch the chase on camera. “They (humpbacks) can get up to around 14 to 15 meters (46 to 49 feet) long, so you can see these are a lot smaller, maybe three to five meters (13 to 16 feet)”.
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With more and more amateur drone users out there, let’s hope that we catch more of these incredible moments of animals doing their thing in the future.
