Many fishermen get the scare of their life when they’re out on the water trying to secure their next big catch. Sometimes, what pops out of the water is not always what you expect.
That’s why people just abandon their rod and whatever else they have with them and run for their lives. That’s why sometimes, the strangest and craziest things will end up in a shark’s stomach.
The most common culprit of this strange feeding behavior is the Tiger shark. Nicknamed the “garbage can of the sea,” these deadly animals have been found full of the oddest objects.
But occasionally other sharks like Greenland sharks, Sand Tiger sharks, Lemon sharks, and more have also been discovered with strange stomach contents.
Let’s find out what some of these things are as we countdown 15 craziest living things swallowed by sharks.
A Porcupine Fish Number 15 on our list is a porcupine fish. A hungry shark that tried to swallow a spiny porcupine fish suffocated on its supper, as the prickly mouthful got hooked halfway into the shark’s gullet and blocked the predator’s gills.
The unfortunate porcupine fish did not survive the encounter, either. The deadly crash took place in tropical waters near the Maldives, an island country in the Indian Ocean, and the aftermath was observed and photographed by independent marine biologist Lauren Arthur after the animals’ remains washed up on the beach.
Young lemon sharks are frequent visitors to the shallow lagoon in Baa Atoll, and the waters are likewise home to a large population of porcupine fish, which are also called balloonfish or spiny puffers for their body-inflating abilities.
But this particular scene a dead shark with an inflated, barbed fish partly protruding from the predator’s gaping jaws was something that Arthur had never come across before.
Gardeners at the Amilla Fushi resort in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll contacted Arthur who also works at the resort when they saw what looked like a shark thrashing around close to the shore.
But by the time Arthur arrived, the shark had already expired. She identified the animals as a lemon shark and a porcupine pufferfish. It just goes to show that small doesn’t mean easy target.
Pufferfish are dangerous, so sharks beware. When pufferfish are threatened, they inflate their bodies by quickly gulping water into their stomachs, blowing up to several times their uninflated size.
What likely happened was that the shark tried to swallow the fish, which then promptly inflated, hooking onto the inside of the shark’s throat and mouth with its sharp spines.
Porcupine Number 14 on our list is a porcupine. This time, a shark swallowed a real porcupine. A tiger shark caught along Bondi Beach in Australia was found with porcupine spines in its stomach.
Of course, you’re asking yourselves “what in God’s name would a porcupine be doing in the ocean? Well, it’s suspected this porcupine was already dead when it fell into the water, but it still would have been a shock to the shark as the spines wound their way through its system.
Having such a broad and gung-ho appetite has its drawbacks. This breed of shark – the second most dangerous after the great white normally feeds on squid, octopus, and small reef fishes like boxfish and puffers.
That’s what happens when you don’t have discerning taste in food. I guess the meal was too spicy for the shark.
