Tiger sharks are usually solitary creatures, but nothing brings the scavengers together like the delicious scent of a dead whale.
These large bacon buffets can attract dozens of sharks at once, but such celebrations rarely get caught on camera.
In late June, a drone off the coast of Queensland, Australia, captured an extraordinary gathering of around 50 tiger sharks lunging at the carcass of a deceased humpback whale.
The rare sight is important for shark research and also serves as a warning to local swimmers.
“Where there are dead whales, there are likely to be sharks around, and this vision clearly shows why.” Precautions Senior Ranger Daniel Clifton from the Queensland Department for Environment and Science (DES).
“The death of a whale, while sad, creates a source of life for many other scavenging animals, including fish, sharks and other marine life. We are fortunate to be able to experience these natural processes firsthand here at Great Sandy Marine Park.”
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To ensure that natural feeding off shore could continue to be easily observed, officials anchored the remains of the humpback whale in a secure location in Hervey Bay.
Directly overhead, the drone footage shows the shadows of sharks circling the whale’s carcass. Occasionally a lone shark can be seen charging at the whale, holding it and flinging its body back and forth as it tries to rip off a bite.
At one point in the video you can actually see a yellow colored cloud emerging from under the whale as the fierce sharks attack it from below; a likely sign of gastric gases and juices seeping into the water.
Scientists have only studied whaling events like this one for about 30 yearsand while tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are frequent visitors, it is not uncommon for their species to be joined by others, such as great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) or bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas).
Off the coast of Australia, researchers have actually recorded There have been a few instances where great white sharks and tiger sharks have been feeding on whale carcasses simultaneously, seemingly in peace.
saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) can sometimes even throw themselves into the fray.
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Sharks may be among the first creatures to reach a whale bank, but their remains have occupied deep-sea ecosystems for decades.
When a whale dies naturally, the blubber and gases in its body keep it afloat for a while. However, as the scavengers start picking up the remains, the skeleton inevitably begins to sink.
This is called “whale fall‘, and it provides essential nutrients to seabed creatures from above. Eels, worms, crabs and octopuses They have been documented feasting on the skeletons of whales at extreme depths. They even eat the bones.
With so many hungry mouths to feed, not a part of a dead whale goes to waste.
Even in death, these noble creatures bring new life to the ocean.
