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As apex predators, sharks have very few natural enemies. However, they do occasionally fall prey to orcas – which paralyze them by flipping them upside down – as well as larger, stronger sharks.

Rare scenes captured off Cronulla show sharks being hunted by whales. @AdeneCassidy7#7Newssnpy.tv/1qaLlCY —

7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 10, 2016

Georgina Wood, a marine biologist from Fantasea Cruising Sydney, said: “Oh it’s amazing, that kind of footage is just so rare to catch.”

It’s not the first time drones have helped observers catch whales on camera. Last September, photographer Jaimen Hudson used one to spy on a pair of southern right whales as they approached a paddleboarder in Australia with friendly curiousity.

From Kataoka’s footage of the false killer whales, it’s impossible to say exactly what kind of shark was attacked.

There has also been some confusion around the predators caught on film. 7 News Sydney shared the video, “Whales vs. Sharks,” on Twitter on Tuesday, along with the caption “Rare scenes captured off Cronulla show sharks being hunted by whales.”

But contrary to their name, false killer whales are like their namesake, the orca or killer whale, in that they are part of the dolphin family. In size, orcas are the largest oceanic dolphin, whereas false killer whales are the third largest.

The latter are usually found swimming in groups of 10 to 20 dolphins, or in even larger groups of 40 to 100. They typically feed on fishes and cephalopods, such as squid and octopuses, but they have been known to attack smaller species of dolphin.

Wood said that in Sydney it’s a lot more common to spot humpback whales, which can grow up to 14 or 15 metres long, especially during the winter months.

More than 20,000 humpbacks are expected to pass through the region this year – an exciting thought for whale enthusiasts, with Australia’s whale-watching season starting later this month.