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In 2021, an eight-foot-longpregnant porbeagle sharkwas eaten by anothersharka discovery scientists least expected.
A team of scientists had tagged the creature off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts in October 2020.
Five months later, the tracker started registering some unexpected activity.
It wasnt long before researchers concluded the shark had fallen prey to an even larger predator.
Her story has since been shared by the team in the journalFrontiers in Marine Science.
The second was a pop-off satellite archival tag, which noted the temperature and the animals depth in theocean.
The porbeagle shark had been swimming in depths of around 1,640 to 3,280 feet.
They are considered an elusive species, meaning scientists dont know too much about them.
Because porbeagle sharks dont reproduce much, the loss of a pregnant one is substantial.
Larger sharks have tendencies to prey on their own species, something that has often gone unnoticed.
As adults, they can grow up to 16 feet and are fully capable of taking down other sharks.
The team in charge believe that another creature had killed the shark without eating any of its tags.
After the shark sank, its tag resurfaced approximately three days later.
Image credits:Ben Phillips
Users have shared the many possible reasons this porbeagle shark seemingly disappeared.
One commented: I wonder if the shark was targeted because she was pregnant?
I bet a baby shark would be super easy to eat, and probably tasty.
Others theorize that it wasnt a matter of the food chain at all.
Its chilling in the Bermuda Triangle, another added.
