As Nemo Amicus says, it is easy to think of a great white shark as an apex predator. . . . .

Something took this one for a ride into the depths then digested it or at least the evidence seems to indicate . . . . Beasties From the Depths are real, .

Although another shark is suggested as the culprit, Nemo and I were hoping for something more like Mosesaur or Pleisosaur . . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2014/...t-white-shark/?hpt=hp_t3

(CNN) -- Australian researchers are hunting for what they call a "mystery sea monster" that devoured a 9-foot-long great white shark.

A tracking device previously planted on the shark was found washed up on a beach, and after analysis, it showed that it had suddenly undergone a rapid increase in temperature and a swift 1,900-foot (580-meter) dive beneath the waves.
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Scientists attribute the more than 30-degree spike in temperature to the shark entering another animal's digestive system, and the unexpected plunge could be explained by the larger animal's rapid descent. Researchers found the tracking device about 2½ miles from where the shark was tagged.

The perplexing situation, which occurred four months after researchers tagged the shark, is chronicled in the Smithsonian Institution's documentary film "Hunt for the Super Predator," which airs in the United States on June 25.

"When I was first told about the data that came back from the tag that was on the shark, I was absolutely blown away," filmmaker Dave Riggs says in the documentary.

"The question that not only came to my mind but everyone's mind who was involved was, 'What did that?' It was obviously eaten. What's going to eat a shark that big? What could kill a 3-meter (9-foot) great white?"

Additional study of sharks in the area provided a possible answer to this question: According to researchers, larger great white sharks were found in the spot where the original shark met its fate.

These huge sharks, the scientists say, are big enough to have eaten another great white and are able to dive at the speed and depth observed by the tracking device.

It's not unprecedented for sharks to eat other sharks, and the researchers posit that a 2-ton "colossal cannibal great white shark" is a likely culprit in this case.

It is also possible that an Orca (aka Killer Whale) could have done it. They are found in all the worlds oceans and have been known to kill and eat Great White sharks of considerable size. They are also considered an Apex Predator. They are also pack animals that live and hunt much like wolves do.

I heard it was a bigger, badder Tommy which did it.

That said, orcas could be culprits. They are smart, ruthless, and could easily over power a great white, especially if they attacked en masse. Hell, dolphins in general hate sharks. Both are beautiful creatures - I find it incredibly cruel to imprison these animals in sea world and the like.

One thing that always sticks out in my mind when cetaceans are mentioned is this quote:

"On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” - Douglas Adams

"9 foot shark was eaten by a 7 foot shark.
Everybody knows 7 8 9
(If you don't get it, say the third line out load.)"

har har har

But yeah, could be orcas, or another great white. There is a lot of sensationalism going on with this story around the web...often neglecting to mention that the average length of a female great white is 16ft, almost twice the length of the 9ft shark that died, so it could have easily been a territorial dispute or hunger based.

But hey it could be a kaiju

Another possibility could have been a bight by a cookie cutter shark.

If the cookie cutter shark took a bight where the tag was it could have swallowed it whole and it's internal body temp could have raised the temp of the tag.

Who knows, they have data from the tag but no data about what caused the increase in temp, so it's just all speculation at best.

I think we all know what really happened here...

Let's hear it for the Elder Gods!

more reasons not to get in the water at the beach.

Of course, Cthulhu did it! Why didn't I think of that? ;-)

Cthulhu only reveals his actions to his true followers *glazed over eyes zealot stare*

In other shark news, have you all seen the video of the guy capturing a close encounter with a Tommy on his go-pro?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m3N_BnVdOI

There's an ongoing discussion whether it's real or some very clever editing. Either way, fantastic video!

And finally on shark newsnight (and in line with the SyFy headline), Sharknado is returning. That's right. So much shame, they made it again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0ieIpBhsg

I believe in mythical creatures as much as the next, but I don't believe much I see on T.V., here is some food for thought about an older documentary about a megladon hunt.

 "The director of blair witch just tweeted that the #megalodon show is the worst thing he has seen since the blair witch project,"

“No whale with a giant bite taken out of it has ever washed up here in Hawaii. No fishing vessel went mysteriously missing off of South Africa in April. No one has ever found unfossilized Megalodon teeth. Collin Drake? Doesn’t exist,” Wilcox wrote.

http://www.theblaze.com/...ts-decision-to-theblaze/

http://www.cnn.com/2013/...ry-shark-week-megalodon/

The ratings for Searching for Bigfoot must be way down.

Or how about the second special on Mermaids. The ratings surpassed that of the puppy bowl.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2...s-animal-planet-ratings/

I know most people like to think of sharks as the big bad guys that will chew off your arm or whatnot and of course we have hollywood to thank for that. Sure there are dangerous species, but the ocean is not a swimming pool. It's us entering the territories of these hunters, so it's no wonder if once in a while someone gets bitten. That being said there are surprisingly few shark attacks considering. If the shark is hunting seals in the same place as you are snorkeling or surfing, is it really surprising that it mistakes you for one?

On the other hand there are plenty of attacks on sharks - sharks being finned and thrown back into the water to asphyxiate and bleed to death, or the great shark cull that has been going on in Australia for the past months.

Sharks are incredibly beautiful animals that move elegantly through the water. Most species of sharks are not dangerous for humans. They are an integral part of the ocean's eco-system. They are wonderful to see while diving or snorkeling, as long as it's not the aggressive types.

Sometimes sharks are fed so that the divers can go see them. This is a terrible practice that results in the sharks getting aggressive and associating divers/humans with food. Of course if something does happen, it's always the shark's fault...

Just saying... Don't hate the sharks. They're very beautiful creatures that are a part of this whole. They are already endangered by human activities / overfishing and need all the support they can get. Sensationalism on sea-monsters etc. will only worsen their image in the eyes of the public, and really they should be protected not hunted.

Agreed - the cull is disgusting, harmful, and based on fear over fact.

Sharks are magnificent creatures, and are at the top end of what evolution has to offer. You'd think as evolved creatures ourselves, we could use our gifts (being land-based and intelligent) to avoid theirs (born killers in the sea). But hey, evolution has also given us a lot of dumb people.