ricki
04-11-2013, 05:13 PM
A fur seal off South Africa dines on one of five blue sharks ranging from 1 to 1.4 m in length. Tearing their throats out and then eating stomach contents and liver for highest caloric intake. Smart seal. The images were taken by Chris and Monique Fallows of http://www.apexpredators.com/ who specialize in conducting white shark and sardine run dives among numerous other marine life specialty excursions in South Africa.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/977075/thumbs/o-SEAL-ATTACKS-SHARK-570.jpg?6
http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/C3/48EE3DAF25AB828F31FDC3D484F7D_h316_w628_m5_cquWopZ Ir.jpg
http://msn.com/
They had taken eight divers out to experience the sardine run including the obligatory ball of bait being ravaged from above and below by predators of all stripes, see above. Much to their surprise even after conducting 2000 of such dives, one of the normal shark prey, a fur seal started to take out blue sharks feeding on the bait.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/29/article-0-173BCD5C000005DC-94_634x503.jpg
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss316/Jentzprints/photobucktstinks/seaslug28_zpsc7a828fc.jpg
Blue sharks ganging up and having their way with some down on their luck seamen in this engraving from 1843. Where is a fur seal when you need one?
http://www.ebay.com/
http://www.apexpredators.com/images/stories/apex/fur-seal.jpg
A fur seal
http://www.apexpredators.com/
More in the following Daily Mail article (in addition to the two fur seal/shark photos shown above) at:
"These extraordinary pictures show a South African seal devouring a blue shark - one of five that it attacked and ate for dinner. The rare event took place off the coast of Cape Point and was witnessed and photographed by a group of shocked divers. The seal ate only the stomach and liver of its prey before moving on to its next victim.
Carnage: A Cape fur seal grabs a blue shark in its jaws as it dines on five of the deep sea predators 'It was terrible to watch,' said South African photographer Chris Fallows, who owns a shark diving company. He had been taking a group on an expedition when they found the sharks, which were all around three or four feet long (1.1 to 1.4 metres).
Scuba divers capture amazing underwater shots of seal snacking on live octopus
Life's a beach: Toy figures mingle with the fish in hilarious underwater scenes
'Suddenly a large Cape fur seal arrived and proceeded to catch and kill its first, then second shark,' he said.
It ate a further two in quick succession, before another shark drew its attention an hour later and it pounced once more.
'This was too much for us,' said Mr Fallows. 'We moved about three miles away. We certainly did not want to attract any more sharks to this seal.' "
and
"The Daily Mail reports that Callan Duck, a senior research scientist at the University of St Andrews' Sea Mammal Research Unit, explained: "It's usually the other way around. There is a lot of footage of great whites eating seals, particularly pups who stray into their paths. Seal normally eat fish, and the usual diet for a Cape fur seal would be one of two species of hake. It may be that there are not many photos of this happening, but that doesn't mean sharks cannot be part of a seal's normal diet.Cape fur seal can weigh up to 700lbs (300 kilos). It's a question of size. If you are smaller than me, I will eat you."
Continued at link below:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270184/Seal-attack-Hungry-creature-eats-sharks-rare-images-sea-mammal-turning-tables-predator-deep.html#ixzz2QCBLGMYx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook"
Rt_5raqBeuA
Here is a video of leopard shark falling prey to a seal presumably in California.
Some intrepid Australian researchers did DNA sequencing on 270 fur seal poo plops to try to discern the original menu items. They mapped a small quantity of unidentified shark in the course of the study. "Analysis of Australian fur seal diet by pyrosequencing prey DNA in faeces" (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04158.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false)
http://www.jumpingfrog.com/images/epm12may07/hmp5613.jpg
A blue shark portrayed as an elasmobranch out of water in this engraving.
http://www.ebay.com/
http://cdn.stripersonline.com/9/98/900x900px-LL-98c3e060_image.jpeg
This is what this SA blue sharks are up against, ouch.
http://cdn.stripersonline.com/
.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/977075/thumbs/o-SEAL-ATTACKS-SHARK-570.jpg?6
http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/C3/48EE3DAF25AB828F31FDC3D484F7D_h316_w628_m5_cquWopZ Ir.jpg
http://msn.com/
They had taken eight divers out to experience the sardine run including the obligatory ball of bait being ravaged from above and below by predators of all stripes, see above. Much to their surprise even after conducting 2000 of such dives, one of the normal shark prey, a fur seal started to take out blue sharks feeding on the bait.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/29/article-0-173BCD5C000005DC-94_634x503.jpg
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss316/Jentzprints/photobucktstinks/seaslug28_zpsc7a828fc.jpg
Blue sharks ganging up and having their way with some down on their luck seamen in this engraving from 1843. Where is a fur seal when you need one?
http://www.ebay.com/
http://www.apexpredators.com/images/stories/apex/fur-seal.jpg
A fur seal
http://www.apexpredators.com/
More in the following Daily Mail article (in addition to the two fur seal/shark photos shown above) at:
"These extraordinary pictures show a South African seal devouring a blue shark - one of five that it attacked and ate for dinner. The rare event took place off the coast of Cape Point and was witnessed and photographed by a group of shocked divers. The seal ate only the stomach and liver of its prey before moving on to its next victim.
Carnage: A Cape fur seal grabs a blue shark in its jaws as it dines on five of the deep sea predators 'It was terrible to watch,' said South African photographer Chris Fallows, who owns a shark diving company. He had been taking a group on an expedition when they found the sharks, which were all around three or four feet long (1.1 to 1.4 metres).
Scuba divers capture amazing underwater shots of seal snacking on live octopus
Life's a beach: Toy figures mingle with the fish in hilarious underwater scenes
'Suddenly a large Cape fur seal arrived and proceeded to catch and kill its first, then second shark,' he said.
It ate a further two in quick succession, before another shark drew its attention an hour later and it pounced once more.
'This was too much for us,' said Mr Fallows. 'We moved about three miles away. We certainly did not want to attract any more sharks to this seal.' "
and
"The Daily Mail reports that Callan Duck, a senior research scientist at the University of St Andrews' Sea Mammal Research Unit, explained: "It's usually the other way around. There is a lot of footage of great whites eating seals, particularly pups who stray into their paths. Seal normally eat fish, and the usual diet for a Cape fur seal would be one of two species of hake. It may be that there are not many photos of this happening, but that doesn't mean sharks cannot be part of a seal's normal diet.Cape fur seal can weigh up to 700lbs (300 kilos). It's a question of size. If you are smaller than me, I will eat you."
Continued at link below:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270184/Seal-attack-Hungry-creature-eats-sharks-rare-images-sea-mammal-turning-tables-predator-deep.html#ixzz2QCBLGMYx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook"
Rt_5raqBeuA
Here is a video of leopard shark falling prey to a seal presumably in California.
Some intrepid Australian researchers did DNA sequencing on 270 fur seal poo plops to try to discern the original menu items. They mapped a small quantity of unidentified shark in the course of the study. "Analysis of Australian fur seal diet by pyrosequencing prey DNA in faeces" (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04158.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false)
http://www.jumpingfrog.com/images/epm12may07/hmp5613.jpg
A blue shark portrayed as an elasmobranch out of water in this engraving.
http://www.ebay.com/
http://cdn.stripersonline.com/9/98/900x900px-LL-98c3e060_image.jpeg
This is what this SA blue sharks are up against, ouch.
http://cdn.stripersonline.com/
.