Tiger Shark Vomits Up Quill-Covered Echidna In Front of Stunned Students
A group of students from Australia’s James Cook University got a bit of a shock when they caught a tiger shark in May, 2022. They were tagging marine life off the coast of Orpheus Island, north Queensland at the time, but this shark did something strange: it puked up an echidna, a quill-covered little creature that lives in Australia and New Guinea.
Tiger sharks aren’t the pickiest of eaters, but they generally stick to things that call the ocean home. And echidnas, since they are covered in spikes like a porcupine, don’t make for the most appetizing of meals, even to a hungry tiger shark.
“We were quite shocked at what we saw. We really didn’t know what was going on,” PhD student Dr. Nicolas Lubitz said in a press release. “When it spat it out, I looked at it and remarked ‘What the hell is that?’ Someone said to take a picture, so I scrambled to get my phone.”
Dr. Lubitz only managed to get one photo, but the outline of the echidna is clearly visible in the water. The research team theorized that the shark likely ate it as it swam the shallows off Orpheus Island. While not common, echidnas have been known to take to the water for short periods of time.
“It’s known that tiger sharks will eat anything,” Dr Lubitz said. “They’re just a scavenger. I’ve seen videos of them eating a rock for no reason. In this case, I think the echidna must have just felt a bit funny in its throat.”
The dead echidna was regurgitated whole, which likely means that it was a recent kill. The tiger shark was about 10-feet long, and it’s not often that tiger sharks will give up a meal like that.
“It was a fully intact echidna with all its spines and its legs,” Dr Lubitz continued. “It was a decent-sized tiger shark but it wasn’t massive. It’s very rare that they throw up their food but sometimes when they get stressed they can.”
The tiger shark, unlike its unlikely prey, was unharmed. It was fitted with a tracker for research purposes and released safely, but it was probably a little miffed that it lost a hard-earned meal.
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