Fisherman's 'nasty' find after spotting shark at Aussie hotspot
The wild footage was shared on social media where Aussies were left stunned.
WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: Wild footage captured at a popular Aussie spot shows the aftermath of a shark attempting to feed on a stingray. But to the surprise of many, the battered animal continues swimming casually through the water, seemingly unharmed, despite a large chunk of flesh missing from its head.
The video was filmed by fisherman Judd Chisholm who shared the footage on social media last month — but it was recently reshared on Facebook by Fishing Australia TV, leaving Aussies stunned.
The 20-second clip shows a distinctive dorsal fin cruising through the water near the Montebello Islands, a group of islands 130 km off the Pilbara coast of north-western Australia. Suddenly, it cuts to a shot of the half-eaten stingray gliding through shallow waters.
Stingrays one of sharks' 'favourite foods'
The shark was promptly identified as a hammerhead, a species known to feast on stingrays, marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck told Yahoo News Australia.
"In addition to the shape of their head (called a cephalofoil) being designed to assist with sensing prey, it’s also very useful at pinning rays to the seafloor and taking a bite," Lawrence said, adding stingrays are "one of great hammerheads’ favourite foods".
It's not uncommon to see a stingray swimming around with "smaller bites or scars" as they're "very hardy animals," Lawrence said.
"But this looks to be pretty serious and towards the head," he said. "I suspect the ray won’t last too long."
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Social media reacts to 'nasty bite'
The fishing network referred to the stingray as a "shark pancake" when posting the video this week. "That's a nasty bite. Ouch," one said after viewing the video. "Poor thing," another said.
Many were shocked to see the stingray "still swimming along" despite the nasty bite. On teh original video, Judd confirmed it was "bit is right near the eyes as well".
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