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发帖数: 15215 | 1 Shark devours another shark whole
National Geographic has released this soon-to-be classic photograph of one
shark eating another shark whole.
The photo comes from Daniela Ceccarelli, of Australia's Research Council
Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Ceccarelli was working with
fellow researcher David Williamson on conducting a "fish census" off Great
Keppel Island, part of the country's Great Barrier Reef. That's when
Ceccarelli thought she spotted a brown-banded bamboo shark hanging out near
the ocean's floor.
"The first thing that caught my eye was the almost translucent white of the
bamboo shark," Ceccarelli told National Geographic in an email. Instead, as
Ceccarelli moved in for a closer look she noticed a camouflaged wobbegong
shark emerging from seclusion with the same bamboo shark partially wedged
inside its jaws.
"It became clear that the head of the bamboo shark was hidden in its mouth,"
she said. "The bamboo shark was motionless and definitely dead."
As the New Scientist explains, Wobbegongs, aka carpet sharks, are silent
predators, waiting at the bottom of the ocean floor for their pray to pass
by. And as stunning as this photo may be, it's not uncommon for Wobbegongs
to devour such large meals. Like several kinds of snakes, the Wobbegong has
a dislocating jaw and rearward-pointing teeth that help it consume
disproportionately large prey.
Although Wobbegongs bite humans with some regularity, these usually aren't
actual attacks where the shark is hunting for prey. Rather, these bites tend
to be more of a defensive reflex after the shark itself has been assaulted,
usually by someone unintentionally stepping on it.
While shark attacks were down in the U.S. last year, deaths from shark bites
more than doubled worldwide with 12 reported deaths all happening outside
of the U.S. However, Florida still led the overall national count for most
attacks, with 11 of the 29 attacks reported inside the U.S.
"We had a number of fatalities in essentially out-of-the-way places, where
there's not the same quantity and quality of medical attention readily
available," George Burgess, director of the Shark Attack File, told Gannett.
"They also don't have histories of shark attacks in these regions, so there
are not contingency plans in effect like there are in places such as
Florida."
You can keep track of individual shark attack statistics here. |
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