Great white shark devoured by mysterious seabeast – Metro.co.uk
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
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The great white shark has been dethroned as king of the ocean after the remains of one were found partially devoured by a mysterious seabeast.
Ben Johnstone, who runs Portland Bait and Tackle in Victoria, Australia, discovered the 10-foot predator washed ashore on Tuesday.
He said: ‘Pretty much the whole underbody was missing from the pectoral fins, to the base of the tail.
‘The body was still pretty fresh – it had probably washed up that morning.”
Mr Johnstone, 28, thinks an orca is the likeliest culprit.
He said: ‘I’m pretty certain it was killer whales – they kill sharks just for the livers, it’s the only part of them that they eat.
‘As for what happened to the rest of the body, once the orcas are done, the rest of the intestines, stomach etcetera would’ve fallen out, as there’s nothing there to hold them in.’
According to Aussie media, a pod of orcas had been seen in the area two days earlier.
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Experts think they’re possibly to blame, but can’t say for sure.
Lauren Meyer, a trophic ecologist at Flinders University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation it was ‘not 100% clear’.
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She said: ‘We see this with things like humpback whales, where killer whales come in and actually eat the tongue and leave the rest of the whale.
‘We certainly see that they prefer the liver of white sharks, mako sharks, bronze whalers and sevengills, and even tiger sharks.’
She added that there had been nine interactions recorded between great whites and orcas in Australia and New Zealand, with others reported in South Africa and the US.
‘I’m not surprised to see this in a place like Portland,’ she said.
‘We know there are white sharks that go through that area and use it as an important corridor.
‘We also know that it’s a place for killer whales where they hunt a number of different prey items.’
The carcass has now been collected, and samples sent to government agencies and academics.
For Ben, an experienced fisherman, the encounter showed the ocean still holds some mysteries.
‘But I don’t know what they are, hence why there are mysteries,’ he said.
‘I was intrigued more then anything.
‘I found it pretty cool that something like that happened in our local waters.’
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