How Did Missing Argentinian Man's Remains Get Into a Shark's Stomach? Here's What Experts Think

In Argentina, the remains of a missing person were recently retrieved inside the belly of a dead shark. The marine predator was caught by a fisherman near the place where the man went missing, which prompted suspicion that it may have killed him. But shark scientists and authorities believe otherwise.

Missing Man 'Very Very Unlikely' Eaten by the Shark

According to the Spanish news site El País, the missing Argentinian was identified as Diego Barria, a 32-year-old resident of the Patagonian province of Chubut. He was last seen on February 18; and four days later, local police found his damaged all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and helmet on a nearby beach. But mysteriously, his body could not be found anywhere near the site.

Then on February 26, a local fisherman caught three school sharks (Galeorhinus galeus) near the beach where Barria went missing. Unexpectedly, they found a human forearm and other suspect human remains inside the sharks' gut.

They immediately reported it to the police who identified a specific tattoo on the wrist of the forearm, which matches Barria's tattoo. Authorities plan to conduct a DNA analysis to confirm that the remains belong to Barria.

Nonetheless, the shark is unlikely to have killed Barra. Instead, authorities believe Barra died after hitting a boulder while driving the ATV, and his corpse washed out to the sea, where it was half consumed by the shark.

Marine biologist Gregory Skomal at Boston University and the leader of the shark program at Massachusetts Marine Fisheries told Live Science in an email that it might be what happened to Barria. He stated that it is "very very unlikely" that the shark killed Barria.

Why It Is Unlikely For the Shark To Have Eaten the Man?

Shark attacks are not unheard of, especially when these marine beasts are provoked. However, as Skomai said, it is unlikely that school sharks killed Barria.

This shark species could grow medium to large sizes, and those caught by fishers measured about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. They are mainly bottom feeders that dine on flatfish and sardines although they do target larger fish and squid in the open sea.

Marine biologist Gavin Naylor from the University of Florida who heads the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File (ISAF) agrees with Skomai that it is unlikely that a school shark would attack a human, especially one that is too big as their prey. A school shark attack on humans is just totally unheard of.

But both think that the sharks opportunistically scavenged on the body as things like this happened in the past as well although it is very rare. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has classified school sharks as "critically endangered" as they are caught by humans for their meat, fins, and livers.