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Killer Whale vs. Killer Shark: Karate Chop Caught in Photos
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by Amy Judd | November 28, 2009 at 12:03 pm
1187 views | 16 Recommendations | 4 comments
The battle between a killer whale and a killer shark, with the Orca using a karate chop to win the fight has been caught in a series of photographs.
The killer whale forces the shark to the surface and then delivers a killer karate chop blow; this is the way they have adapted to overcome what many would consider the biggest killers of the ocean. See the series of photographs of the killer whale vs. the killer shark.
In these photos it is a Mako shark, but this technique works on the Great White Shark as well and also nine other species of shark. The Orca Whales spend years perfecting their technique though so that they don't harm themselves in this process. The young ones often watch the adults to learn how to do it and won't attempt it themselves until they are an adult.
'The most impressive strategy is the 'karate chop'," said expert Dr Ingrid Visser, 43, who has studied orca behaviour for 17 years.
'The orca will use its tail to drive the shark to the surface. They don't even touch it. Using an up-thrust of its tail it creates a vortex which pushes the shark up on the current they create with their movements.
'Once the shark is at the surface, the killer whale pivots and lifts its tail out of the water and comes down on top of it like a karate chop.'
Once the shark has been dazed by the karate chop, the killer whale turns the shark upside down, which puts them in to a paralysed state known as 'tonic immobility'. This suggest that killer whales understand shark biology.
'It's not that the orca understands the physiology of the shark,' said Dr Visser, from Tutukaka, North Island, New Zealand.. 'But it does demonstrate that they understand the behavioural consequences of what will happen if they take a certain action.
'You don't need to understand how a car works in order to drive it. All you need to know is the individual behaviours that make the car go.
Scientists don't think that the Orcas are hunting sharks however, but they do know that if there is an opportunity for food, they will take it.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
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aczar (not verified)at 13:24 on November 28th, 2009
I don't think an orca could pull off a karate chop move like that to a 15-20 foot great white.
at 13:32 on November 28th, 2009
Great post, Amy, thanks. The story further confirms other studies on the remarkable and intelligent Orcas.
at 18:10 on November 28th, 2009
Great post, thanks.
Impressive, marine animals, beautiful and intelligent!
Wonderful story.
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bernardineros (not verified)at 01:28 on January 5th, 2010
Is this supposed to be impresssive for attacking 1/4 of its own size? It's like a college bully taking on a grade 1 bully. I've been waiting all my life for a closely documented encounter of orcas and great whites of same (or close) sizes... Kudos still goes to the lady scientist for getting every orca geek's age long queries closer to having an answer.