Large Sharks Are Beginning to Eat Each Other In Surprising Ecological Twist

Amaze Lab

Recently in Bermuda something believed extremely unlikely happened, a tagged and pregnant porbeagle shark was eaten. However, researchers say the 12-foot-long creature was consumed by another shark.

Transcript

00:00Recently, in Bermuda, something believed extremely unlikely happened.

00:08A tagged and pregnant porbeagle shark was eaten by another shark.

00:13Researchers who were tracking its movement noticed its satellite tag was exhibiting some

00:16really strange behavior, with marine biologist Brooke Anderson saying about it,

00:20I kept trying to think of alternative explanations for the increase in temperature and depth,

00:24but all signs pointed to the same conclusion, that our pregnant female porbeagle had to

00:28have been eaten by an even larger shark.

00:31Porbeagles aren't easy prey either, as they grow to be upwards of around 12 feet long

00:35and weigh around 500 pounds.

00:37However, their numbers are dwindling due to sport and commercial fishing, meaning if other

00:41large sharks are now eating them, this could be very bad news.

00:45What's even worse is that while they live for decades, they don't begin to reproduce

00:48until around 13 years of age.

00:50They also only have a litter of up to 4 pups just every year or two, meaning their reproductive

00:55cycle is quite slow.

00:56So what kind of shark made a mature 12 foot long porbeagle its dinner?

01:00The researchers say because of the increased temperature, it was likely a great white shark

01:04or a short fin mako, as both generate heat inside their bodies.

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