![\"New](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/30144101\/SEI_223871977.jpg\")
<\/div>A blue shark<\/p>\n
Ken Kiefer\/Getty Images\/Image Source<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
A blue shark was skewered through the head by a swordfish, but lived to tell the tale in the first known instance of a shark surviving this type of impalement.<\/p>\n
When the shark was caught by fishers in Vlor\u00eb, southern Albania, it had no fresh puncture wounds and it had bait in its stomach, indicating it was feeding normally. An autopsy later revealed an 18.6-centimetre fragment of swordfish bill embedded in its skull.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I realised that there was a swordfish bill inside the shark\u2019s head, I was astonished,\u201d says Andrej Gaji\u0107<\/a> at Sharklab ADRIA\u00a0Research\u00a0Centre in Vlor\u00eb.<\/p>\n Gaji\u0107 has conducted tens of thousands of shark autopsies. \u201cI\u2019ve never encountered anything like this before, nor have I read about it in the literature,\u201d he says. His team tries to revive and release sharks caught as bycatch if possible, but this shark died before it arrived in port.<\/p>\n There have been eight previously documented incidences of blue sharks (Prionace glauca<\/em>) being impaled by swordfish (Xiphias gladius<\/em>) with the swordfish\u2019s rostrum found in or near the shark\u2019s head. A bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus<\/em>) and a shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus<\/em>) have also been found gored by billfish, the group that includes swordfish.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the first verified shark survival of such an encounter. As it was impaled, the young swordfish probably reacted instinctively by elevating its head, snapping off its bill without damaging any of the shark\u2019s vital structures, says Gaji\u0107.<\/p>\n The adult shark measured 275 centimetres and weighed 44 kilograms. Swordfish can grow up to around 455 centimetre<\/a>s and weigh as much as 650 kilograms. There are some reports of blue sharks feeding on swordfish, and both animals use aggressive hunting tactics to feed on dense schools of fish or squid.<\/p>\n Such impalements could occur when swordfish try to defend themselves from a blue shark\u2019s attack, or due to an accidental collision when both predators are feeding on the same prey. Gaji\u0107 says more observations are needed to determine the cause.<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n