Porbeagle shark devoured by great white stuns researchers
Scientists tracking the life of a porbeagle shark have made an incredible discovery. The researchers aimed to better identify the habitats of this fish, but what they found at one point surprised everyone.
7:07 AM EDT, September 3, 2024
Since 2020, scientists from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality have been tracking the movements of a roughly 10-foot female porbeagle shark. The data they collected using special transmitters were meant to help better understand the locations and depths at which this fish foraged and lived.
From the beginning of their observations, the researchers noticed certain patterns, with data changing depending on the time of day. However, a few days ago, this changed significantly, as confirmed by measurements such as water temperature, which stopped making sense to the scientists.
They conducted a small investigation to determine what caused the shark's sudden change. The result surprised everyone. According to the scientists, the overwhelming majority of evidence suggests that the female porbeagle shark was most likely eaten along with the transmitter by a larger great white shark.
The shark studied by scientists was eaten by a great white shark
According to Brooke Anderson, a marine fisheries biologist at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, this instance represents the earliest recorded occurrence of a shortfin mako shark being preyed upon globally, as reported by the website livescience.com.
The researcher emphasized that this kind of event completely changes the existing belief about the interaction between different shark species. However, this discovery would not have been possible without specialist technology, which showed that the temperature indicated by the transmitter meant it was inside the stomach of another creature.
