Re: Do sharks attack carniverous, toothed, whales?

Hi Arthur,

Well, the larger toothed whales such as the sperm whale are really too 
large for sharks to deal with, although young whale calves could be 
vulnerable if a shark could avoid the protective parent whales. Dead 
sperm whales are found with shark bites, but these appear to be 
post-mortem as sharks have often been seen feeding on whales killed by 
whalers.

Orcas appear more likely to attack sharks than be attacked as they are 
larger (20 feet) than even the Great White Shark (12 feet approx)and there 
are reports of this (e.g. http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9710/08/whale.vs.shark/) 
occurring, although orcas are sometimes seen with shark bite-marks on their 
fins.

The smaller whale species (dolphins, porpoises etc ) are however small 
enough to be attacked by some sharks.

As for using sonar to distinguish between tuna and porpoises, I'm not 
entirely sure but as groups of fish show up as a single larger 'blob' I 
imagine it may be quite difficult...

Hope that helps,

Dr David Hubble,
University of Nottingham, UK