Massive pregnant shark eaten by bigger shark off East Coast in first recorded case, study says
The porbeagle's tag, which tracked location, temperatures and water depths, showed the shark remained about 9 degrees F warmer than the surrounding area, despite data showing that the tag moved up and down the water column -- data that suggested the tag had been eaten.
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Scientists have presented the first documented case of a porbeagle shark being eaten by a predator – likely from a great white shark near Bermuda, according to a study published Tuesday.
The porbeagle was about 7 feet long and pregnant, based on information gathered when the shark was caught and tagged off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in Oct. 2020.
But about five months after she was tagged, researchers said the porbeagle had not only died, but was killed by another shark hundreds of miles away near Bermuda.
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus), illustration (Photo by De Agostini via Getty Images/De Agostini via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
The porbeagle's tag, which tracked location, temperatures and water depths, showed the shark remained about 9 degrees F warmer than the surrounding area, despite data showing that the tag moved up and down the water column.
Scientists said this showed that the tag had been eaten.
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Also, scientists were able to record temperatures characteristic of gut temperatures for other large, warm-blooded fish.
Two that came to mind which live in the waters near Bermuda and are large enough to eat a porbeagle were the shortfin mako and white shark, which have both been known to eat other shark species.
White shark, also known as great white shark.
(NOAA / NOAA)
By comparing the depths at which the tag was recorded, scientists determined that the most likely predator of the porbeagle was the white shark, popularly known as the great white shark.
While the pregnant porbeagle was about 7 feet long, porbeagles on average can grow to 12 feet long, according to NOAA. In contrast, white sharks can grow nearly twice as long at about 21 feet.