Shark chokes on sea lion bizarrely occurred off the coast of Western Australia Monday. Apparently, this great white literally bit off more than it could chew, as suffered the consequences and died as it tried to swallow a huge sea lion. After shark chokes on sea lion, it washed up dead near Geraldton, in western Australia, reports the New York Post.
As shark chokes on sea lion, it was filmed by beach goers a few feet from shore, thrashing around the ocean's shallow waters. On Sunday, two days later after it was caught on camera, the 13-foot shark was found dead on Coronation Beach, 17 miles north of Geraldton.
Investigation finds great white which washed up near #Geraldton may have died choking on large sea lion @abcnewsPerth pic.twitter.com/dSBcHoV1X5
— Sarah Taillier (@staillier) July 17, 2014
According to Dr. Rory McAuley, principal research scientist of the Department of Fisheries, the shark had no visible signs of injury, but it did have a large Australian sea lion stuck in its throat when they found it.
As the four-meter shark chokes on sea lion and eventually died, its body was brought Fisheries Department. The humongous Australian sea lion stuck on the shark's throat amazed them.
McAuley said, 'This could explain why the shark was exhibiting such unusual behavior in shallow waters off Coronation Beach. It's possible that the shark was trying to dislodge the blockage.'
Meanwhile, the NY Post reports that beachgoers Saturday noticed that the shark had been tagged, thus many have speculated this to be the reason the shark got stressed and died. Nobody knew during the time the shark chokes on sea lion.
Because of all the ruckus the thrashing about of the shark has created, an audience of beachgoers gathered towards the shark, and many caught the incident - shark chokes on sea lion, on cam.
According to the Daily Mail, video of shark chokes on sea lion has already amassed more than 18,000 views on YouTube.
Other extraordinary photographs have also been taken by beachgoers, showing the great white thrashing about near Coronation Beach, while it apparently tried to consumer the sea lion.
One beachgoer by the name of Tash Tapper was able to shoot footage of the shark chokes on sea lion incident. Tapper said she was on the beach with her family when they saw the sea creature. She said it had been a 'surreal' moment for them.
She told of watching the shark swim in close to the shore, back out and back in for almost two hours.
'Too me, it seemed it was coming in to die,' she told WAtoday.
According to McAuley, the shark had been tagged off the South Australian coast in January, though he reiterated that it died most likely because of failing to consume the sea lion appropriately.
McAuley said of shark chokes on sea lion incident, 'Such a large object may have damaged the shark's internal organs or impeded water flow into his gills, contributing to his death. Alternatively, the shark may have accidentally become stranded in his attempts to get rid of the obstruction.'
Another probable reason that McAuley pointed out was that the shark might have become stranded while attempting to get rid itself of the sealion in the first place.
Shark chokes on sea lion has been recorded on video, and the department said that they have also downloaded information from the shark's tracking device and taken tissue and vertebrae samples for research purposes.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
