Scientists from Boston University and the University of Florida said that the shark, from which a man’s remains were recently removed from its belly, is unlikely to have killed him – most likely, it ate the remains of a man who was already dead. It has been reported live science.
The remains of a man who went missing in Argentina were recently excavated from the belly of a dead soup shark (Galeorhinus galeus). The animal was caught by fishermen near where the man disappeared.
Diego Barría, 32, who lives in the Chubut state of Patagonia, was last seen on February 18. About four days later, local police found a damaged all-terrain vehicle next to a split helmet on a nearby beach.
On February 26, local fishermen caught three soup sharks near the beach. While cutting the carcasses, they found a human arm in the stomach of one of the fish. Police first identified the man from the tattoo on his arm, then confirmed his identity by DNA testing.
Police suspect that Barria died, possibly after hitting a rock, after which his body was washed into the sea. Scientists from two US universities also believe that it is very unlikely that a shark killed Barria. Gavin Naylor, a marine biologist at the University of Florida, added that a school shark is unlikely to attack a person because it is such a large prey for them: the length of the individual on the belly of the man’s hand was 1.5 meters.
Soup sharks mostly feed on flounder and sardines near the seafloor, but they also prey on larger fish and squid in the open sea.