Blue whales are the Earth’s largest species and can stretch beyond 100 feet in size — even their young measure at above 20 feet on average. Great white sharks, meanwhile are quick, powerful, and highly efficient predators. What happens when these two face off and do great white sharks actually pose a threat to these true titans of the ocean?
The short answer, says Chandra Salgado Kent, marine ecologist and associate professor at Edith Cowan University, in most cases, likely not. Fit adult blue whales are likely far too large and powerful to be seriously threatened by sharks, even great whites. They possess both speed and high stamina to outrun a shark that’s built predominantly for sharp, short bursts of speed to capture its prey.
Scientists do spot whales with tell-tale bite marks on them, suggesting some encounters with enterprising sharks at some stage of their life. It’s also known that sharks scavenge dead whales, blues and others.
“We're seeing sharks attacking whale carcasses and ripping blubber and muscle from them,” says Salgado Kent. “So, the question then is has this attack happened before the whale had died or afterward?”
