Something Ate This Shark... But What? (Something Enormous Ate a Very, Very Big Great White Shark)

Smithsonian Channel on You Tube ^ | May 30, 2014 | Smithsonian Channel

[OneVike]

A group of marine biologists off the coast of Australia tagged a healthy great white shark. Then, a few months later, the tag washed ashore. When researchers analyzed data from the tag, they were confronted with a mystery that was deeply weird, and slightly terrifying.

In this video, we learn what the researchers found on the tag. A few weeks after tagging, the shark appears to have been abruptly dragged down into a deep ocean trench, then eaten. The tag remained in the digestive system of the animal that ate it for several days. Whatever animal it was seemed to be bobbing to the ocean surface once in a while, though it never plunged as deeply as it had after it ate the shark.

What kind of deep-dwelling alpha predator did this? Obviously it's very possible that the shark's tag was eaten, but that still leaves us wondering what could bite a hunk off a shark, then zoom down to an incredible depth and back up again? This video is a reminder of how little we actually know about shark behavior and deep sea life.

[driftless2]

The Eggplant That Ate Philadelphia.

[saganite]

Killer Whale. They have been observed killing Great Whites.

[varmintman]

Killer whale. No other possibility really, the megaladon is extinct.

[vwbug]

“Godziwwa!”

As reported by Baba Wawa

[vwbug]

a Very, Very White Shark
....so white, it didn’t know ebonics.

and a very very poor dancer

[Little Pig]

I haven’t read that, and I keep meaning to one of these days.

And yes, fascinating creatures all. I wish they made good aquarium pets, but cephalopods are one of those creatures that one keeps just to prove they can; they don’t live long enough to really enjoy and are hard to find suppliers for.

I think the best summation I read of them was several years ago, when a scientist observed that they were probably the closest we’re going to get to genuine extraterrestrial life until we encounter the real thing, because they (at least octopuses) are fairly intelligent, yet so DIFFERENT from us.

[Little Pig]

Based on what happened to the tag, probably not. Orcas don’t dive deep when they’re eating, and they spend more time on the surface than deep down. Whatever ate this shark hit it, pulled it deep immediately, stayed down there a while, then only occasionally went back to shallow depths over the next few days.

[fso301]

The video says the tagged shark was estimated at 3 meters long. As every fisherman knows, estimates tend to be on the high side but even if accurate, a 3 meter shark is not large.

It probably was killed by another shark but not swallowed whole as implied. Sharks in feeding frenzies will attack other sharks. Once wounded, it would be quickly devoured. the shark that happened to take the bite that included the tag may have left the area to eat in peace.

Another possibility is that it was attacked by a much larger great white. In either case, another shark took a chunk out of the tagged shark that just happened to include the tag.

[VOR78]

Actually, this shark was rather small, about 9 feet. A great white shark can grow to be over 20 feet. Most likely, it was eaten either by a killer whale, as some suggested, or a much larger shark.

[Arthur McGowan]

I read about some lab that had an octopus in a tank, and some fish in another tank across the room. The fish were disappearing.

They set up a camera, and it showed the octopus climbing out of his tank, crossing the room, taking the lid off the fish tank, eating a fish, putting the lid back on the fish tank, and returning to his own tank.

[Cvengr]

Prop on a Trident sub?

[Cvengr]

Giant Squid feeding his pet Giant Clam. (or visa versa)

[Hootowl]

That was in 1997 and it was called the “Bloop.” Some scientists now believe it was the cracking of an ice shelf as it breaks up from Antarctica.

[Flick Lives]

Kraken!

[daniel1212]

Good point. that never entered my head. But then again, my head is full of throbs and dizzyness lately.

This is something "going around." I have had a cold for the past few days, starts in throat, them head and nose. At 62 you would think by now you would have antibodies to most everyone, but mutation..

[ArtDodger]

From the Examiner:
The female shark was tagged off the coast of Australia as part of a program to track the species and better understand their movements, Examiner.com reported. The incident apparently occurred 11 years ago, but a documentary on the mystery titled “Hunt For the Super Predator” is to air on the Smithsonian Channel on June 25.

[Bigg Red]

Nessie?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks OneVike. Interesting.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Megalodon&tbm=vid

[SunkenCiv]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale#Range_and_habitat

[SunkenCiv]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid#Range_and_habitat