On Friday 24th of February, the second batch of dead sharks (post Orca predation) were necropsied at the Marine Dyanmics Academy lodge, lead by PhD candidates Alison Towner and Ralph Watson. This brought the total number of sharks from the Sunday Pearly Beach interaction to 18 sharks, seventeen of which were Sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) and one a small spotted Gully shark (Triakis megalopterus).
“It is fascinating to see the way these sharks have been handled by the orcas, in this case, similar to the first necropsy, every shark had really clear orca tooth impressions known as rake marks on them” said Alison Towner. “I have necropsied all the white sharks killed by this pair and while rake marks were present they were not as clear, this could be down to different handling and gripping techniques by the orcas or that sevengills have softer skin more conducive to showing the tooth impressions”.