19-inch bites? Whatever attacked this carcass found on a beach in Maine was big
A seal carcass that washed up on a Maine beach has gotten the attention of researchers for its very large bite marks.
The bites are about 19 inches in wide.
It was likely a great white shark — a large one, says James Sulikowski of the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation at Arizona State University.
“Nineteen inches is a good size,” Sulikowski told McClatchy News. “Minimum 11 feet. Probably bigger.”
Bigger, in the case of great white sharks, can be as much as 20 feet long and 7,000 pounds, according to the nonprofit group World Wildlife Fund.
However, no shark’s teeth were found snapped off in the wounds, so proof is elusive.
The seal appeared on a beach in Phippsburg and was photographed with Remy McGuire, Sulikowski said in a Facebook post. The post doesn’t say when the seal was found. Phippsburg is about 120 miles southwest of Bangor.
How the seal avoided being eaten adds to the mystery of what might have happened. Waters off Maine are brimming with great white sharks this time of year, and they infamously prey on seals, including a few instances when they mistook a human for a seal.
“The seal probably escaped the initial predation event then succumbed to the wounds afterwards,” Sulikowski told McClatchy News.
Great white sharks are considered “the world’s largest known predatory fish,” according to the World Wildlife Fund.
“It has 300 teeth, yet does not chew its food. Sharks rip their prey into mouth-sized pieces which are swallowed whole,” the group reports.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has posted video in recent weeks of great white sharks as big as 14 feet off nearby Nova Scotia. The nonprofit research agency has also shared video of sharks feeding on seals.
Great white sharks are also known to bite each other, an occurrence experts don’t fully understand but believe is connected to mating or fighting for a mate.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 6:36 AM with the headline "19-inch bites? Whatever attacked this carcass found on a beach in Maine was big."