Pregnant porbeagle shark devoured by larger predator near Bermuda
This is the first such situation in the world. Scientists tracking the pregnancies of porbeagle sharks have evidence that one of these sharks was eaten by something even larger, according to NBC News, which cites a publication from the journal "Frontiers in Marine Science".
The report states that scientists were astonished when they learned about the death of a pregnant porbeagle shark near Bermuda. From the initial reports, it was found that the shark they monitored (equipped with a device to track its daily routes) was eaten by a larger shark. As they point out, this is the first recorded case in history.
The first such case
"This is the first documented case of a porbeagle shark being hunted anywhere in the world," explained Dr Brooke Anderson, the lead author of the study and "investigation" into the mysterious death of a shark near Bermuda. The researcher highlights two issues identified during the work to determine what happened to the porbeagle shark.
Anderson notes that in this case, the population of this species lost a reproductive female who, moreover, was pregnant and thus could soon give birth to more porbeagle sharks. More importantly, the risk that if predation and hunting of this species are more common than previously thought, it could impact nature.
Consequences for the porbeagle shark population
"This can have serious consequences for the porbeagle shark population, which is already suffering due to overfishing," adds the researcher. Issues with the population of these sharks are particularly significant because they have a slow reproductive cycle. Anderson explains that porbeagle sharks give birth to an average of four young every 1-2 years. Due to the declining population of this species, it has been listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as endangered (in the northwest Atlantic) and critically endangered for populations in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.
The porbeagle shark eaten by another shark was observed by scientists using special satellite transmitters. Researchers placed them on sharks off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts in 2020 and 2022, and since then, they can continuously monitor the locations of endangered species. The monitoring devices record the exact location as well as the depth at which the sharks move and the water temperature.
These porbeagle sharks reach a length of 4 metres and weigh up to 230 kilograms. Anderson explains that they live very long—up to 30, or even 65 years. Female porbeagle sharks reproduce only when they approach 13 years of age.
