<p>Scientists have published new findings confirming that orcas hunt great white sharks, after the marine mammal was captured on camera killing one of the world's largest sea predators.</p>.<p>A pod of killer whales is seen chasing sharks during an hour-long pursuit off Mossel Bay, a port town in the southern Western Cape province, in helicopter and drone footage that informed a scientific study released this week.</p>.<p>"This behaviour has never been witnessed in detail before, and certainly never from the air," said lead author Alison Towner, a shark scientist at Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa.</p>.<p>One clip shows five orcas chasing and killing a great white and scientists believe three more were mauled to death during the hunt.</p>.<p>"Killer whales are highly intelligent and social animals. Their group hunting methods make them incredibly effective predators," Simon Elwen, a marine mammal specialist and study co-author said in a statement released Tuesday.</p>.<p>Orcas, the ocean's apex predator, have been known to prey on other shark species, but evidence of attacks on great whites was previously limited.</p>.<p>The study did not address the reasons behind the behaviour.</p>.<p>One of the whales was known to have attacked white sharks before, but the other four were not.</p>.<p>The authors said this suggested the practice was spreading, with earlier studies having established that the black and white animals can learn from one other through "cultural transmission".</p>.<p>Sharks disappeared from the area after the attack, with only one great white spotted in the next 45 days, according to the paper that was published in scientific journal Ecology.</p>.<p>The authors said this confirmed sharks have a flight response and could have broader implications.</p>.<p>In earlier observed cases, the animals ended up abandoning former key habitats, with consequences for the ecosystem and shark-related tourism, said marine biologist Alison Kock of South African National Parks.</p>.<p>The images were filmed in May and one of the videos first aired in June.</p>
<p>Scientists have published new findings confirming that orcas hunt great white sharks, after the marine mammal was captured on camera killing one of the world's largest sea predators.</p>.<p>A pod of killer whales is seen chasing sharks during an hour-long pursuit off Mossel Bay, a port town in the southern Western Cape province, in helicopter and drone footage that informed a scientific study released this week.</p>.<p>"This behaviour has never been witnessed in detail before, and certainly never from the air," said lead author Alison Towner, a shark scientist at Marine Dynamics Academy in Gansbaai, South Africa.</p>.<p>One clip shows five orcas chasing and killing a great white and scientists believe three more were mauled to death during the hunt.</p>.<p>"Killer whales are highly intelligent and social animals. Their group hunting methods make them incredibly effective predators," Simon Elwen, a marine mammal specialist and study co-author said in a statement released Tuesday.</p>.<p>Orcas, the ocean's apex predator, have been known to prey on other shark species, but evidence of attacks on great whites was previously limited.</p>.<p>The study did not address the reasons behind the behaviour.</p>.<p>One of the whales was known to have attacked white sharks before, but the other four were not.</p>.<p>The authors said this suggested the practice was spreading, with earlier studies having established that the black and white animals can learn from one other through "cultural transmission".</p>.<p>Sharks disappeared from the area after the attack, with only one great white spotted in the next 45 days, according to the paper that was published in scientific journal Ecology.</p>.<p>The authors said this confirmed sharks have a flight response and could have broader implications.</p>.<p>In earlier observed cases, the animals ended up abandoning former key habitats, with consequences for the ecosystem and shark-related tourism, said marine biologist Alison Kock of South African National Parks.</p>.<p>The images were filmed in May and one of the videos first aired in June.</p>