A man in Australia has captured rare footage of a group of large dolphins stalking and devouring a lone small shark in waters south of Sydney.
Bruno Kataoka was flying his drone off the coast of Cronulla when he spotted several false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) hunting down a shark. It appeared as if the pod was trying to tire out its prospective prey.
Moments later, the lead false killer whales swam directly at the shark and attacked it, snagging it with their powerful jaws and dragging the creature toward the deeper portion of the ocean.
Georgina Wood, a local marine biologist, said Kataoka was able to record a very rare natural event.
Capturing footage of false killer whales in action is quite uncommon since these marine animals are not always seen even though they seem to be plentiful in the high seas.
"We generally see a lot of action from humpbacks here in Sydney, especially during these winter months," Wood pointed out. "They (humpbacks) can get up to around 14 to 15 meters (46 to 49 feet) long, so you can see these are a lot smaller, maybe three to five meters (13 to 16 feet)."
Large numbers of people are expected to flock the coast of Sydney to take part in the annual whale watching season in a couple of weeks.
Locals estimate that as many as 20,000 humpbacks will visit the region's waters this year.
Those who are interested in seeing the massive marine mammals in the wild can catch a glimpse of them just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) off the Sydney coast.
There are also tour operators who are considering bringing a few drones with onboard cameras along with them during cruises in the hopes of recording more rare footage of the sea creatures.
In October last year, a filmmaker in Canada was also able to videotape a transient killer whale tossing a seal several feet in the air using only its powerful tail.
Photo: Matt Boulton | Flickr
