Tigers sharks consume everything– so the stating goes. But that doesn’t imply researchers weren’t absolutely floored when a tiger shark barfed up a whole echidna. We can’t envision that spiky meal decreased … or up … quickly.
Yesterday, James Cook University (JCU) announced the odd incident that occurred throughout a 2022 research trip. “Previous JCU PhD trainee Dr Nicolas Lubitz and his group were hectic tagging marine life off the coast of Orpheus Island, north Queensland in Might 2022 when the shark they caught spit up a dead echidna,” journalism release checks out.
JCU says the scientists believe this is a world-first discovery and, for the scientists, it was “the shock of their lives.”
Lubitz says the group was well aware of tiger sharks’ track record for being non-discriminate scavengers. “I have actually seen videos of them eating a rock for no reason,” he told JCU. In reality, researchers have likewise found items like license plates and tires within tiger sharks’ stomach contents. An echidna, though? An Australian land mammal covered in sharp quills?
“When [the shark] spat it out, I took a look at it and said ‘What the h * ll is that?'” Lubitz stated. “Somebody said to take a photo, so I rushed to get my phone.”
In Lubitz’s photo, you can see the tiger shark beside a dark object, the spit up echidna.
Image by Nic Lubitz by means of James Cook University Lubitz informed JCU he presumes the shark nabbed the echidna as it swam in the shallows or perhaps between islands. It must have been a recent meal, given that the scientists noted the echidna was still completely intact with all its spinal columns and its legs.
“We were rather shocked at what we saw,” he said. “In this case, I think the echidna must have just felt a bit amusing in its throat.”
After overcoming their shock, the researchers tagged the tiger shark with an acoustic tracker then launched it securely back into the wild.
Australian researchers were definitely floored when a tiger shark puked up an entire echidna– spiky quills and all.