Sheep Found In Stomach Of Red Sea Tiger Shark
Graphic video has emerged online, depicting a group of fishermen gutting a large female tiger shark, removing the remains of a sheep from the predator’s stomach.
The video originates from Saudi Arabia, according to Shark Attack News, and first surfaced on LiveLeak. Though few details were provided along with the footage, commentators inquired how a sheep could possibly end up inside a tiger shark. Though the fierce predators have a reputation for eating almost anything, displaying the widest food spectrum of any shark species, it is highly uncommon for a sheep to find itself in water deep enough to encounter a tiger shark.
See Inside A Tiger Shark’s Mouth As It Gobbles A #GoPro http://t.co/Fe3Nf7tOvx pic.twitter.com/vWhmHPtasD
— André Senior (@andresenior) November 7, 2014
In 2010, a series of shark attacks took place at a Red Sea resort, Sharm el-Sheikh, off the coast of Egypt. While oceanic whitetips and mako sharks were blamed for the incidents, an unprecedented five attacks occurred in a single week, taking the life of one person and severely injuring four others.
One of the explanations offered for the shark attacks focused on livestock transport vessels from Australia and New Zealand, which disposed of sheep that did not survive the trip by throwing them overboard. Experts believe this action could have drawn sharks in the Red Sea closer to shore. As Divernet noted, other factors were also cited in the 2010 attacks, including prey depletion, localized feeding of sharks by divers, and unusually high water temperatures at the time.
Who doesn’t love a tiger shark? #sharkdiving #tigerbeach #sharklove #savesharks #finfree pic.twitter.com/nb2y3uWYBJ — Epic Diving (@epicdiving) November 9, 2014
Recently, tiger sharks have been blamed for a spate of attacks in Hawaiian waters. As the Inquisitr previously reported, three attempted predation events were attributed to tiger sharks in a single week, with a fourth attack happening the following week. The waters off Hawaii had been muddied by the passing of Hurricane Ana, creating a situation that is a known risk factor for ambush-style shark attacks, like those attributed to tiger sharks.
In the fourth reported attack, a tiger shark struck a surfer’s board, dragging it out to sea while she was still attached by a leash. A friend came to her assistance, assaulting the shark and forcing the animal to release the surfboard by striking it on the nose.
Sightings of tiger sharks are somewhat rare in the Red Sea. According to the IUCN Red List, tiger sharks are considered a near threatened species.
Video of the sheep being removed from the tiger shark can be viewed on YouTube, though it is extremely graphic.
[Image: Albert Kok via Wikipedia]
