||| FROM NEWS.COM.AU |||
Spine-chilling photos reveal how a giant 4.5 metre great white shark was mauled to death by an even bigger beast.
The largest predatory fish in the world had just devoured a dolphin in four bites when it was suddenly attacked by a much larger creature in a brutal underwater brawl.
The shark even had its liver ripped out before its mangled carcass eventually washed up on a popular portion of South Africa’s Eastern Cape on May 28.
Its remains were photographed and uploaded to social media by marine biologist Alison Towner, who also confirmed the second carcass as “a freshly consumed” and almost 2 metre common dolphin.
The animal was folded up in the shark’s stomach, Towner said, having been cleanly severed into four pieces and then swallowed whole.
The attack happened so soon after the shark consumed the dolphin that experts were able to reconstruct the dolphin’s body back together.
But closer inspection on the shark also helped to identify exactly what killed it.
According to Towner, the suspect was none other than a killer whale – the only known animal to kill great white sharks.
“Killer whale rake (teeth) marks were found on the ventral surface of the shark’s head,” Towner wrote on Facebook.
“The shark’s liver was missing, with only a small piece of tissue remaining.”
The discovery of the shark marks a “significant new observation” for marine biologists, Towner says.
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