A pair of shark-hunting orcas have been on a record killing spree off South Africa's coast.
Seventeen sharks were recently killed by orcas Port and Starboard and marine biologists said there could well be more yet to wash up.
When dead sharks began washing up at Pearly Beach, near Gansbaai this month, a team of scientists headed out to track the two known shark-killing orcas.
"We observed the two orcas repeatedly diving down in a small area for almost two hours before they departed offshore," said Ralph Watson of the Marine Dynamics Academy.
Days later, 11 deceased broad nose seven-gill shark carcasses were retrieved from the a nearby beach by Watson's team.
"Each seven-gill shark was torn open and missing its liver; they were all females measuring between 1.6-2.3 metres and had similar injuries to those killed in False Bay by the same orca pair," Alison Towner, PhD candidate at Rhodes University said.
"This is the largest amount of sharks these orcas have killed in this area in one sitting. There could well be more that didn’t wash out."
In total, from February 3 to February 22, 17 dead shark carcasses have washed ashore the Gansbaai coast, east of Cape Town.
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