Shark

EXCLUSIVE: Great white sharks have mysteriously vanished from one of their most popular hunting grounds in South Africa leaving tourism bosses baffled as to what has driven away one of their biggest money spinners. Theories include a fear of Orca's who have been targeting the apex predators tearing them open to eat their fatty livers as well as pollution, climate change and over fishing of much of the great whites natural prey. Between 2010 and 2016 shark spotters recorded an average of 205 great white sightings a year in False Bay which is a 600 square mile section of the Atlantic Ocean near tourist hot spot Cape Town. In 2018 they were only 50 sightings of the deadly predators made famous by the Hollywood blockbuster Jaws and so far this year not a single one of the much-feared great white shark has been spotted. And it has been two years since the Shark Spotters Applied Research Programme has picked up a signal from any of the great white’s that had been tagged by scientists and were resident in False Bay. This comes after 5 great white sharks were washed up along the South African coastline in 2017 with gaping wounds on their side with their livers having been bitten out by two killer whales in the area. The killer whales bite a large slit in the side of the great whites after attacking as a pair and then suck out the fatty liver which is 600lb meat delicacy in a phenomenon that has only recently been discovered. The two Orca’s responsible – known as Port and Starboard as their dorsal fins hang to the left on one and to the right on the other – spurned their natural prey like seals having developed a taste for shark. The great whites population in False Bay sea to be taking no chances and have moved to new hunting grounds away from Seal Island but it is hoped that they will in time return to their usual hunting ground. The City of Cape Town said: ”Great white sharks have been noticeably absent from False Bay during 2019 prompting questions as to when t

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Great Whites SHarks Disappear - 30 Aug 2019