Everything can happen in the wild. A new video captured a sea lion preying on a blue shark.
Sea Lion vs. Blue Shark
A retired nurse was in California's Monterey Bay when they witnessed a surprising encounter between a bull sea lion and a blue shark. The former reportedly tossed the shark and ripped its throat out of the water. It also ripped part of its jaw off before swallowing it.
Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer for the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, California, said large sea lions usually drag their prey to the surface because it's easier for them to swing and rip a bite off them in the open air.
One representative from a local sea mammal conservation nonprofit, the Marine Mammal Care Center, added that sharks are definitely on the bull sea lion's menu. However, they typically fed on a smaller shark; the one caught in the video was bigger than expected but still inferior in size compared to the sea lion. The rep noted it's interesting to witness the sea lion eating something "bigger than bite size."
Marine biologists report that while violent confrontations between sea lions and sharks are uncommon, most of California's coastal sea lion population is more frequently observed consuming small schooling fish, such as sardines.
It wasn't the first time such an encounter was filmed. Slater Moore, a photographer, also witnessed a similar incident in 2015. They were aboard a whale-watching tour off the coast of Newport Beach, California, when they saw a sea lion attack a shark.
Moore said it was "insane" because the predator became the prey. Everyone on the boat was shocked by what they witnessed in the wild.
Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, also described the event as the sea lion turning the tables because many don't think that marine mammals can eat sharks, too.
According to the Marine Mammal Center, sea lions are opportunistic feeders who usually eat easily, like squid, herring, and small sharks.
Bader added that most sharks are less than three feet long, which makes them vulnerable to predators. He stressed, "Just because it's a shark doesn't mean it's an apex predator."
Most Threat To Blue Sharks
The encounter between the blue shark and the sea lion may appear violent to some. However, marine biologist Dr. Chris Lowe, director of Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, said such encounters were not uncommon. He reflected on the incident captured in 2015 and stressed that marine mammals eating sharks is "kind of common," but people don't witness it often.
He added that sea lions are "much less existential threat" to blue sharks than humans, who engaged in finning practices. Human poachers harvest sharks' fins and dump the finless sharks' bodies back into the sea.
Bader said there used to be many blue sharks in the area. However, they have been heavily depleted due to finning.
Blue sharks are not endangered but are under the "near threatened" category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.
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