Killer whales chase, kill swell white shark

Shark Week's Alison Towner, a marine biologist based in South Africa, secured drone footage of three killer whales hunting a ix-foot cracking white shark. Courtesy of Discovery'southward Shark Calendar week

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Incredible drone footage shared during the Discovery Channel's Shark Week shows the moment three killer whales in South Africa'due south Mossel Bay hunt and kill a nine-human foot-long peachy white shark.

The gory video, which was reportedly taken during "Shark Week" filming earlier this twelvemonth, aired on Thursday in the special "Shark House."

The orca bites the shark around its liver, with a cloud of blood pooling out into the green-tinted water.

Part of Due south Africa-based marine biologist Alison Towner's long-term piece of work with slap-up whites, the prune shares what she wrote on her Instagram is "one of the most incredible pieces of natural history ever captured on motion-picture show."

SHARK ATTACKS: EXPERT SHARES FACTS ABOUT THE Body of water PREDATOR Among UPTICK IN SIGHTINGS

Three killer whales hunt a nine-foot great white shark

Three killer whales hunt a nine-foot swell white shark (Credit: Discovery'due south Shark Week)

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Fauna, the scientist said she had been studying the movement ecology of great white sharks for 15 years.

While Towner noted that Mossel Bay had noticed great whites disappearing, this is "the earth's first drone footage of killer whales predating on a white shark."

The moment the three killer whales attack 

The moment the three killer whales attack (Credit: Discovery's Shark Week)

"Information technology's the beginning fourth dimension in South Africa it'due south always been documented every bit direct testify," she said.

WITH SHARK SIGHTINGS ON THE RISE ON EAST COAST, SCIENTISTS Theorize CONSERVATION EFFORTS MAY PLAY A ROLE

Researchers, she told the outlet, had prove for killer whale attacks on white sharks before and data had revealed a modify in the orcas' cycling habits.

Two of the killer whales hunting the shark

2 of the killer whales hunting the shark (Credit: Discovery's Shark Week)

Towner'south article published in the African Journal of Marine Science tackles the subject more than in-depth.

CLICK HERE TO Go THE FOX NEWS APP

"The reality is, their movement has been very much messed up by the increased risk of killer whale predation and now the total of dead white sharks has climbed to [8] and ane more than bronze whaler shark, since this paper was submitted," Towner wrote on Instagram. "That's but the carcasses we know of that done out. Last week, together with the Marine Dynamics University team, I lead nonetheless another necropsy on a dead white shark…"

"Shark Week" runs through Saturday.

Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can discover her on Twitter at @JuliaElenaMusto.