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.

[OneVike]

She left Norway?

[kingattax]

if was obozo, that would be ‘semi-white privilege’ wouldn’t it ?

[OneVike]

But it could be.

[TigersEye]

Nah, 0bama couldn’t tackle a live sardine.

[OneVike]

Now that’s a possibility, I saw the video and it has a red dot on it.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

A very old type of shark. About 60 feet long and massed about 90 tons.

Extinct.

We hope.

[Little Pig]

Giant squid, almost certainly.

I’m reminded of an incident at an aquarium (that was actually caught on camera). The aquarium needed to repair the tank their giant octopus was living in, so they temporarily moved the animal into their big “reef” tank. The aquarium staff was concerned, though, because the reef tank was where they housed their sharks, and they worried that they’d lose the octopus before they could get its tank repaired.

First day, the octopus hid in the rocks. Second day, no sign of octopus, but a couple of the sharks seemed to have been chewed up a bit. Third day, still no sign of the octopus, more sharks wounded and one dead. They put a camera in the tank that night. Camera clearly shows the octopus lurking on the side of the reef, and occasionally ambushing the sharks, pulling them against the reef with its tentacles, taking a few bites, then releasing the shark.

Cephalopods are vicious predators. Octopuses can be dangerous, but are intelligent enough that they can also be curious. Squids and cuttlefish on the other hand are just downright vicious; many divers won’t dive around the bigger squids like the Humboldt because they move so fast, and are strong enough to cause real trouble even to a human.

So, if a 1-meter squid can be dangerous to a human, a 2-3 meter squid is certainly strong (and intelligent) enough to destroy even a Great White.

Also, the movement pattern is consistent with a squid, spending lots of time deep down, with occasional forays up near the surface to feed.

[OneVike]

It swallowed the tag, maybe not the whole shark. Something could have bitten off only the dorsal fin which is where I see they put most tags.

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

[bray]

I don’t know what it was, but Discovery will have a team looking for it next season.

[OneVike]

You flip a shark on its back and it can’t breath. That’s the way killer whales kill them.

Is that true? never knew that. So they are like a cockroach.

[RandallFlagg]

Architeuthis Dux.

[OneVike]

No, check the video. The Smithsonian says it happened recently.

[spokeshave]

The Blob

[OneVike]

True, he would be the one gone in 60 seconds.

Oh God I wish....

[OneVike]

Yes, we hope.... LOL

[OneVike]

Oh yea, the drugs are good, but sadly it’s better at screwing with the head than the pain.

[OneVike]

Now that is a show I would pay to see.

[P-Marlowe]

I saw some killer whale special where they did that to a great white. The whale just flipped upside down while holding the shark and the shark stopped moving.

So the next time you are about to be eaten by a great white, all you need to do is to grab it and flip it upside down and hold it still for about 5 minutes.

[OneVike]

Yes I believe you are correct.

How’s it going bray, haven’t ran across you in awhile. Or maybe my many problems have just kept me from noticing.

[GeronL]

lol

I am sure that will come in handy.