Fisherman Films Killer Whale on US Coast, Experts Anticipate Orca - Shark Showdown

Killer whales and great white sharks could collide in a dangerous ocean encounter, with experts concerned that sharks returning to the US coast could provoke orcas to attack.

Experts fear that a vicious attack between two top ocean-based predators could occur soon off the coast of the United States.

A video was shared of a recent killer whale sighting 40 miles east of Nantucket, Massachusetts, in an area where great white sharks are known to congregate.

When the toothed whale passed by his boat in the waters of normally shark-dominated territory, fisherman Jerry Leeman captured video of the orca, also known as the killer whale.

Leeman narrated in the video that the Killer whale is the apex predator of the sea.

The killer whale's rare sighting coincides with sharks' return to the coast for the summer months, raising fears that the two killer beasts will collide.

Killer whales are the only predators that pose a threat to great whites, according to The Sun.

Orca - Great Whites Conflict

An Andromache, a 10-foot-long female great white shark, is said to be in the area, with research organization OCEARCH tracking the killer fish near where Leeman spotted the orca.

With a history of orcas harassing and killing sharks, OCEARCH's chief scientist, Bob Hueter, believes "there can be conflict" between the two predators.

Hueter explained that if the orca stays or if others show up this summer, it could have an impact on the white sharks that normally feed on seals in the area. He went on to say that the two species might compete for the Cape's grey seals.

According to a 2019 study, great white sharks flee when killer whales approach, and two orcas off the coast of South Africa are accused of repeatedly killing great whites.

Read also: Tilikum: Grim History of SeaWorld's Killer Orca That Violently Killed 3 People 

Previous Orca vs. Shark Ordeals

Tourists on a whale-watching boat near San Francisco witnessed two killer whales attack and consume the liver of a great white shark in October 1997.

National Geographic reports that it was, at that time, the first documented sighting of killer whales eating white sharks. The incident sparked new lines of research, as well as some intriguing questions for Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a biologist, and a research associate at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The biologist pondered on how any ocean predator could dominate the almighty great white.

Five white sharks were discovered beached on the Western Cape of South Africa in 2017. Even though no one saw the South African killer whales, also known as orcas, kill the sharks, orcas were the most likely suspects.

Scot Anderson, a seasonal researcher for Monterey Bay Aquarium, explains that the incidents show that interactions between these two predators can have significant consequences for the food chain. For example, his recent research shows that orcas scare sharks away from elephant seal colonies in the Farallon Islands, which benefits seals, which are the great white's main prey.

Following the 1997 attack, the entire great white population, about a hundred animals, left the islands early and missed out on their annual seal feast.

Related article: For the First Time, Scientists Record Orcas Hunting the Largest Animals on Earth