Huge half-eaten shark washes up on Australia beach. ‘Equal parts cool and terrifying’

A large great white shark is at the center of a grisly debate, after it washed up at Cape Bridgewater, Australia, with a huge bite taken out of it.

More specifically, the entire midsection is gone — as if the shark was gnawed like corn on the cob.

“This is equal parts cool and terrifying,” Portland Bait and Tackle wrote in an Oct. 18 Facebook post. “This 3 meter (about 9 feet, 8 inches) white shark, washed up on the beach ... after being attacked.”

So what preys on one of the world’s fiercest predators?

Among the troublesome guesses are things “we don’t know even exist.”

However, most believe with good reason the attacker was a killer whale, also known as an orca.

Killer whales grow to 32 feet in length and are “the ocean’s top predator,” NOAA Fisheries reports. By comparison, great white sharks top out at about 22 feet, NOAA says.

“Great white sharks are completely terrified of orcas,” Smithsonian Magazine reports. “The apex predators will flee their hunting grounds and won’t return for up to a year when killer whales pass by.”

The heavily chewed appearance of the shark’s carcass has some convinced the attacker was exhibiting behavior observed in waters off South Africa, where killer whales were documented attacking white sharks to eat their livers.

“In this case they are really interested in shark liver,” wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta told Nine News Sydney. “It seems to be the juiciest part. ... There is science going on right now to find out why they are such picky eaters.”

Portland Bait and Tackle notes the killer whale theory seems applicable, due to multiple ocras being spotted in the same area days earlier.

The company’s Facebook post has gotten hundreds of reactions and comments, many from people who wanted proof of what killed the shark.

“Whatever it was certainly did a number on this beautiful beast,” one commenter wrote.

“Just when you thought great whites were apex,” another said.

This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Huge half-eaten shark washes up on Australia beach. ‘Equal parts cool and terrifying’."