Fishermen in Albania caught a blue shark with an 18 cm long swordfish beak in its skull, marking the first case of a shark surviving such an injury.
The blue shark was stabbed through the skull by a swordfish, but still survived the accident. When caught by a group of fishermen in Vlorë, southern Albania, it had no puncture wounds and had bait in its stomach, indicating it was feeding normally. Subsequent autopsy results revealed an 18.6 cm long swordfish beak stuck in its skull, New Scientist reported on October 1.
“When I realized there was a swordfish beak in the shark’s head, I was very surprised,” said Andrej Gajić, an expert at the Sharklab ADRIA Research Center in Vlorë. Gajić has conducted tens of thousands of shark autopsies but has never come across any such cases before and has never seen them in other research. His research team specializes in finding ways to revive and release sharks that were caught by mistake, but this shark died before reaching port.
There are 8 cases of blue sharks (Prionace glauca) was stabbed by a swordfish (Xiphias gladius) with the attacker’s beak located inside or near the shark’s head. An eye-tailed shark flaps its big eyes (Alopias superciliosus) and sight-fin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) have also been found stabbed by long-beaked fish, including swordfish.
This is the first confirmed case of a shark surviving such an accident. When stabbing an enemy, the young swordfish may react instinctively by raising its head, breaking its beak without damaging any of the shark’s vital structures.
The adult shark is 275 cm long and weighs 44 kg. Swordfish can be up to 455 cm long and weigh up to 650 kg. There are some reports of blue sharks eating swordfish. Both species use fierce hunting tactics to feed on large schools of fish or squid. Such a stabbing action can occur when a swordfish tries to defend itself from a blue shark attack, or by accident when two predators hunt the same prey. According to Gajić, researchers need more observations to determine the cause.