Great white sharks—apex predators that dominate ocean food chains—flee from humans with greater intensity than from orcas, their only natural predator, according to new research that fundamentally challenges popular perceptions of these misunderstood animals.
The findings, published by marine biologist Enrico Gennari and colleagues from the Oceans Research Institute, demonstrate that human activities pose a far greater mortality threat to white sharks than orca predation—and that sharks have learned to recognize and avoid human presence accordingly.
Researchers analyzing white shark mortality along South Africa's coast found that approximately 44 white sharks are killed annually through human activities, including the KwaZulu-Natal shark control program and demersal longline fisheries. By contrast, only 11 documented orca kills occurred between 2017 and 2025, primarily attributed to two individual killer whales named Port and Starboard.
The disparity reveals what ecologists call a "landscape of fear"—the way predation risk shapes animal behavior at fundamental levels. While orcas represent occasional predators targeting specific individuals, humans present a persistent, widespread threat that white sharks have learned to associate with fishing vessels, nets, and human water activities.
The research challenges prevailing narratives that orca predation drives white shark population declines. "Human-caused mortality alone is sufficient to prevent white shark recovery, and likely to drive its decline," researchers concluded, emphasizing that while orca predation remains natural and uncontrollable, fishing practices fall under government regulation.
White shark populations off South Africa show alarming decline patterns. A 2016 genetic analysis identified only 333 mature individuals in a single breeding population. False Bay sightings plummeted from 1.64 sharks per hour during 2000-2015 to just 0.3 per hour between 2016-2020, effectively reaching zero by 2018.
