Big Sharks Mate

A photo of a half-eaten Great White shark has caused a stir in Australia this week. Swimmers are shuddering at the thought of "the big one that's lurking out there", as one young surfer described it.

The photo shows a three-metre shark with two huge chunks bitten out of its body. The London telegraph reported that "experts believe the bites were made by an even larger predatory fish." Well, state the obvious then, why don't you? If it wasn't a monster shark, then what the hell was it?

According to some reports, the bigger of the two sharks could be up to 20 feet long. Panic time, people.

Anyway, over at True/Slant, blogger Scott Bowen thought the whole thing might be a hoax courtesy of some masterful digital manipulation. He came up with an elaborate analysis as to why he thought it was fake. But he changed his mind when he got sent a link to another photo of the shark, taken from a different angle and clearly showing the same savage wounds. The pic, as he noted, looks like it could be real.

All this takes me back to earlier this summer, when the beaches here were closed to swimmers after a large shark was spotted just metres off the shore.

The first reports suggested it was a Great White. (Contrary to popular belief, the most vicious predators in the ocean are quite common round here, though not usually this close to shore.) But after subsequent sightings, this particular specimen was identified as a basking shark.

Either way, time to get out of the water just in case.

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