JAWS OF DEATH
Shark-eating killer whales sighted off US coast as experts fear showdown with Great Whites after 13ft ‘monster’ spotted
TWO of the ocean's top predators may soon collide in the waters off the coast of the United States.
Video showed a recent killer whale sighting 40 miles east of Nantucket, Massachusetts, where great white sharks are known to roam.
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Fisherman Jerry Leeman captured the video of the orca, a species also known as killer whales, on May 15 as it swam next to his boat.
He also shared , saying: "Killer whale apex predator of the sea. Just awesome total bad a**"
Leeman said it was roughly 20-feet long and followed the boat for about 30 minutes, reported.
The rare sighting comes at the same time the sharks usually return to the coast for the summer months.
The two creatures may soon cross paths. Other than humans, killer whales are the only predators that are a threat to great whites.
A female great white shark known as Andromache is reportedly already in the area. She's over 10-feet long.
She's regularly tracked by the research organization OCEARCH and has been close to the shores of Martha's Vineyard, which is near where Leeman spotted the orca.
Bob Hueter, chief scientist at OCEARCH, said "there can be conflict," between the two predators. There's a history of orcas harassing and even killing the sharks.
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"If the orca sticks around, or others appear this summer, there could be some effects on the white sharks that normally feed on seals there," Hueter said.
"The two species could be in competition with each other for the gray seals of the Cape."
A 2019 study found that great white sharks quickly fled whenever killer whales came to an area.
Two orcas off the coast of South Africa have repeatedly killed great whites. They were witnessed "tearing apart" the sharks by a whale watching group.
Shark numbers in the area have fallen dramatically since the whales reportedly began attacking them.
Before 2017, hundreds would visit the bay every year. In 2021, there were just a handful of sightings.
Earlier this year, three very large sharks were tracked off the coast of North Carolina.
The sighting included the largest male shark to be tagged in Canadian waters by OCEARCH.
The shark, called Mahone, measures 13 feet, 7 inches and weighs 1,701 pounds, .
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His transmitter pinged most recently on April 11 at 7.06am, according to .
Mahone was tagged in October 2020 in the waters near Nova Scotia and has been traveling up and down the waters of the east coast of North America since.
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