Tigers sharks eat every part—so the saying goes. However that doesn’t imply researchers weren’t completely floored when a tiger shark barfed up a whole echidna. We will’t think about that spiky meal went down . . . or up . . . simply.
Yesterday, James Prepare dinner College (JCU) introduced the odd incident that occurred throughout a 2022 analysis journey. “Former JCU PhD scholar Dr Nicolas Lubitz and his workforce had been busy tagging marine life off the coast of Orpheus Island, north Queensland in Might 2022 when the shark they caught regurgitated a useless echidna,” the press launch reads.
JCU says the researchers imagine it is a world-first discovery and, for the researchers, it was “the shock of their lives.”
Lubitz says the workforce was nicely conscious of tiger sharks’ popularity for being non-discriminate scavengers. “I’ve seen movies of them consuming a rock for no cause,” he informed JCU. In reality, researchers have additionally discovered objects like license plates and tires inside tiger sharks’ abdomen contents. An echidna, although? An Australian land mammal lined in sharp quills?
“When [the shark] spat it out, I checked out it and remarked ‘What the h*ll is that?’” Lubitz mentioned. “Somebody mentioned to take an image, so I scrambled to get my telephone.”
In Lubitz’s photograph, you’ll be able to see the tiger shark subsequent to a darkish object, the regurgitated echidna.
Lubitz informed JCU he assumes the shark snatched the echidna because it swam within the shallows or presumably between islands. It should have been a current meal, because the researchers famous the echidna was nonetheless absolutely intact with all its spines and its legs.
“We had been fairly shocked at what we noticed,” he mentioned. “On this case, I believe the echidna should have simply felt a bit humorous in its throat.”
After getting over their shock, the researchers tagged the tiger shark with an acoustic tracker then launched it safely again into the wild.
