INTERVIEW WITH CAPE TALK

Shark expert Ryan Johnson recounts, in detail, the strategic way a Great White went about killing a whale 10 times its size.

In recent months, we’ve seen reports of orcas moving into False Bay to, possibly, target Great White sharks.

Sharks are, usually, apex predators.

Some feed on animals as large as whales, but this has never been captured on video – until now.

Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) hunting near Cape Town, South Africa.

Mossel Bay-based National Geographic shark expert Ryan Johnson recently shot astounding footage of a shark slowly and deliberately attacking a humpback whale many times her size.

The resulting documentary forms part of National Geographic’s “Shark Fest”, currently on in South Africa and some other parts of the world.

Johnson – a New Zealander – moved to South Africa in 1999 to observe sharks and to study marine biology.

“It was a dream for kids in New Zealand to be able to go to Africa and study the wildlife and animals,” says Johnson.

“South Africa has been everything to me.

“You can have adventures here with animals that you can’t have anywhere else in the world.

“A lot of countries don’t make space for their big, charismatic predators, but South Africa’s government has been protecting species like great whites for the best part of 30 years now.”