The sensationalistic thread title is typical of those for the Smithsonian Channel video clip on today’s webs.
In short:
nine foot Great White Shark gets tagged
several months later the tag washes ashore
tag’s data recorder shows that GWS swam to significant depths
during one deep dive, the tag’s temperature rose thirty degrees (from 48 to 78°F) “in a matter of seconds”
tag temp remained at that level, regardless of changes in water depth, until battery died.
According to the researchers, the only possible explanation for the temperature jump is that the GWS with tag attached went suddenly from 48° water into the 78° “interior of a belly.” Hence the breathless wondering about what monster swallows a nine foot GWS.
In my ignorance, I can easily think of least one mundane alternate explanation: the tag either fell off or was pulled off the GWS before being swallowed by a seal, or a big dumb non-monstrous fish. For that matter, maybe the GWS herself ate the damn thing.
Well, my first thought upon reading your thread title was “giant squid” because these plucky fellows are known to sometimes tangle even with sperm whales (those are a *bit *larger than 9 feet long, which isn’t all that big even for a Great white shark) but I believe they’re cold blooded so that wouldn’t fit the scenario.
But I would agree that “tag registers as being inside a stomach” doesn’t indicate that the whole shark was eaten in one gulp. Maybe something took an itty bitty bite out of it - another shark, an orca… apparently orcas in particular are the GWS’ nemesis :
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
Interspecific competition between the great white shark and the orca is probable in regions where dietary preferences of both species may overlap.[46] An incident was documented on 4 October 1997, in the Farallon Islands off California in the United States. An estimated 4.7–5.3-metre (15–17 ft) female orca immobilized an estimated 3–4-metre (9.8–13.1 ft) great white shark.[57] The orca held the shark upside down to induce tonic immobility and kept the shark still for fifteen minutes, causing it to suffocate and then proceeded to eat the dead shark’s liver.[46][57][58] It is believed that the scent of the slain shark’s carcass caused all the great whites in the region to flee, forfeiting an opportunity for a great seasonal feed.[59] Another similar attack apparently occurred there in 2000, but its outcome is not clear.[60] After both attacks, the local population of about 100 great whites vanished.[58][60] Following the 2000 incident, a great white with a satellite tag was found to have immediately submerged to a depth of 500 m (1,600 ft) and swum to Hawaii.[60]
[/QUOTE]
I saw something years ago on the tube about octopuses or octopi. They had video of one in a large tank killing a shark. And lots of clips of them escaping tanks, getting out, and going for a walkabout.
As I quoted it in the OP title, to me the implicit question was: “What unknown sea monster can swallow a nine foot GWS whole?”
The obvious answers come from a more sober rephrasing of the question: “How did the gadget, attached to the exterior of a medium size shark, wind up in a stomach?”
BTW: “They need a bigger desk” -
Something must be wrong with the electronic tag on the shark as it was reported to have gone down to 2.000 feet.
Only a submarine can go down to 2,000 feet and that is considered crush depth. The submarine would implode at that depth due to the air inside of it and so would any known species of whale.
