“Bite off more than one could chew” is an idiomatic expression which means to take on a task more than one can deal with. But one shark literally defined this phrase when it choked to death while trying to gulp down a large sea lion.
On July 12, a video was uploaded to YouTube which shows a great white shark swimming towards the shore and trashing around the shallow waters of Coronation Beach. Beach goers gathered around and filmed the majestic creature’s violent tail-lashings. The shark was almost close to shore and one onlooker felt there seemed to be something wrong with the flopping giant and said, “He’s not very happy, is he?”
Here’s the raw video:
Two days after, the four-meter great white shark turned up dead on the west Australian shore. Experts found that the shark (which they have identified as a male shark) had no signs of injury or disease – but the investigators did find a sea lion stuck in it’s throat. Apparently, the shark choked to death while gulping down a large sea lion.
“This could explain why the shark was exhibiting such unusual behavior in shallow waters off Coronation Beach. It’s possible that the shark was trying to dislodge the blockage,” Rory McAuley of Australia’s department of fisheries explained.
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