Pivotal Marine Milestone

ORCA-STRATED: This still from the aerial footage prompted a research paper. Photo Supplied

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Wavescape invites you to a ocean film screening and panel chat with gurus associated with groundbreaking research released last week about Orca and White Shark predation and geographic redistribution.

The evening Ocean Species in a Changing World takes place at Jack Black's Taproom on Monday 17 October from 6pm, and celebrates this pivotal moment in SA marine science. We will screen the short documentary Whales in a Changing Ocean (Wath the trailer here), which is part of a regional hub of the global Wildscreen Festival, which celebrates and advances natural world storytelling.

If you ever needed visual proof that the white shark might be losing its status as apex predator, look no further than the explosive footage captured by drone pilot Christiaan Stopforth, whose footage prompted scientists Alison Towner, Alison Kock, and Simon Elwen to team up with Stopforth and David Hurwitz from Simon's Town Boat Company to investigate and produce a targeted research paper.

PORT AND STARBOARD: It seems these two orcas are the instigators of it all. Photo: Alison Kock

Read their paper Direct Observation of Killer Whales Predating on White Sharks and Evidence of a Flight Response, arm yourself with the facts and bring your A game on Monday! :)

Their paper, published last Monday in The Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology, analyzes the footage, which provides new evidence that orcas are capable of pursuing, capturing and incapacitating white sharks. This has put to rest the debate about what has been attacking sharks (including sevengills, bronze whalers and white sharks) and removing their livers.

It also opens a window of possible scientific study into aspects of white shark and orca behaviour, including distribution, flight response, hunting habits, and communication.

SOLO CREATURE: Their solitary behaviour may have brought their demise. Photo: Morne Hardenberg

Everyone on the team who produced the paper, except Alison Towner who could not join us, will be present on Monday to discuss the video and research. They will be joined by Sarah Waries, who as CEO of the Shark Spotters, works closely with them around the movements of white sharks away from traditional aggregation sites around Cape Town, Gansbaai and Mossel Bay.

LINEUP FOR THE EVENING

18:00 Networking
19:00 Welcome (message by Sir David Attenborough)
19:15 Whales in a Changing Ocean (21min)
19:45 Orca vs White Shark panel discussion and Q&A
20:45 Networking

THE PANEL

• Alison A. Kock PhD -- South African National Parks, Cape Research Centre, Cape Town, South Africa & South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), South Africa
• Christiaan Stopforth -- Drone Fanatics SA, Mossel Bay, South Africa
• David Hurwitz --Simons Town Boat Company, Simon’s Town, South Africa
• Simon H. Elwen PhD -- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPC, Cape Town, South Africa & Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
• Sarah Waries, CEO Sharks Spotters

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