# Killer whale vs. great white shark : Question about communication among sharks (also, VIDEO!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369 "2011-04-14T14:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/21 "2011-04-14T21:12:59Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Sadly, sounds like an impossible proposal - how can you be sure you’ll observe another orca/white shark attack? In general, very rare events make a poor basis for research funding. ☹ Yeah, I was going to edit that out but time expired. Still, maybe something about long range communication in white sharks. What would happen if they played recordings of orcas hunting? Would the sharks scatter? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/22 "2011-04-14T21:47:59Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Inner ear - sound - 900 m range > Lateral line - vibration - 200 m > Olfactory sacs - smell - 180 m > **Ampullae of Lorenzini - temperature, weak electrical fields (20-30 cm), salinity, water pressure** > Eye - sight - twice as effective as cat’s eye for dim vision; 30+ m I guess what I’m wondering is whether there might be some form of communication happening which perhaps utilizes the Ampullae of Lorenzini in ways that we don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/23 "2011-04-14T21:58:08Z")
Suddenly, I have an intense craving for Great White Shark Liver. I think it might go well with fava beans and Chianti. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/24 "2011-04-15T04:44:37Z")
Orcas are so bad ass, and so intelligent, fuck Great Whites, they are the king of the seas. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/25 "2011-04-15T05:06:22Z")
Yay, mammals win again! If a Great White had been killed by something else (say, humans) would the other GWs leave? Or, was it specifically death-by-Orca that sent the rest running? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/26 "2011-04-15T16:27:14Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Yay, mammals win again! > > If a Great White had been killed by something else (say, humans) would the other GWs leave? Or, was it specifically death-by-Orca that sent the rest running? Yeah that’s another thing I was wondering. Do great whites scatter every time a great white is hooked or captured by humans? The former certainly puts great white blood into the water, if that’s all it takes to scatter them. (But I don’t think it is. I think something more must be happening.) ---
**Author:** ![monkeybrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@monkeybrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeybrain)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/27 "2011-10-31T21:10:08Z")
i’ll postulate that the orcas preyed on the feeding sharks silently and after the kill, the ‘killer’ orca started communicating about its kill to other orcas and the sharks ‘heard’ the warning. orcas can communicate over long distances in a language similar to humans and sound waves travel super fast underwater. a shark’s inner ear is capable of detecting sound waves from many miles away. therefore, the best shark repellant might be a device worn around the ankle that emits sound waves in the orca language. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369/28 "2011-11-01T03:12:55Z")
Whales and related cetaceans make extensive use of mid and very low frequency infrasonic sounds that travel at approximately 1500 meters per second in water. It’s not beyond the realm of imagination that sharks and other creatures vulnerable to whales have leaned to steer clear if they can hear those sounds and localize them in the environment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whale-vs-great-white-shark-question-about-communication-among-sharks-also-video/578369.md?page=1)