Sea Lion Eats Shark
By Rebecca Drew
BREATH-TAKING images show the moment a hungry sea lion wrestled with its eight-foot-long Thresher shark dinner by throwing it around in the air after making its catch.
The spectacular shots show the 660-pound sea lion rip the shark’s head off as it continues to splash around in the water flinging the shark from side-to-side.
In one picture, the sea lion almost loses its prey as the headless shark is seen disappearing into the distance, whilst another shows the calm after the storm as the sea lion peacefully bites down into the shark.
The stunning photographs were taken at Newport Beach, California, USA by photographer, Dale Frink (34). To take the shots, Dale used a Canon 1dx II.
“Sea lions eating sharks is not a new phenomenon but it is rarely witnessed. The role reversal of what we preconceive as “predator and prey” makes a sighting like this equally captivating to the general public,” said Dale.
“The violence of the sea lion’s attack is mirrored in its motivation as the killing of a Thresher shark has a higher risk and a lower reward.
“The sea lion has to spend more energy not only killing the prey, but rendering it into smaller chunks that can be swallowed.
“Only the strongest and biggest sea lions can undertake the risk of going after even a modest sized shark.”
Sea lions normally eat fish and octopus, they have between 34 and 38 teeth which they use to catch their prey and tear their catch into chunks small enough to swallow as they don’t chew their food.
“Thresher sharks are fish eating sharks and would not have been hunting the sea lion,” added Dale.
“Wildlife Photography in general is my favourite because anything is possible. There are no studios, few constraints, and you can show people all over the world something they have never seen before on any given day.
“When people see this, typically there is lots of screaming and yelling with the occasional expletive.
“There is also a lot of disbelief that a sea lion would eat a shark.”
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