Shark found torn in half on beach raises fears an even larger predator may have attacked it

A shark discovered cut in half on a beach has raised fears it may have been attacked by a much larger predator hunting in nearby waters.

An image of the grisly find, posted to Reddit’s r/sharks feed, sparked a debate over what could have caused the fish’s death.

The user who captured the photo explained that he came across the grizzly bear while walking on the beach in Oak Island, Canada.

He said: ‘I saw this poor guy yesterday’, with his post receiving hundreds of upvotes and leaving others wondering what creature might be behind the attack, reports the Mirror.

The original poster left an image of the shark and asked others what might have been left in pieces while others suggested an attack by a larger shark.

One user claimed to have identified it as “Atlantic Sharpnose, guess made ‘based on the shape of the nose, white spots and dark back of the dorsal fin’.”

But many other users racked their brains about how he met his death, rather than trying to identify the species.

Amid speculation, one user dismissed claims of a propeller accident.

In response to a comment, the poster wrote, “It wasn’t a boating accident! It wasn’t a propeller.

“It wasn’t just any coral reef. And it wasn’t Jack the Ripper.”

Another user replied: “It was a shark, a great white shark. Certainly not a great white shark but I saw many sharks eaten by other sharks. There is always a bigger fish.”

A third backed up the claim it was a shark attack that cut the smaller shark in half, writing: ‘Another shark would do this all day every day.’

The original poster asked for “ideas on gender [of shark] right?”, which gave others a chance to joke about what was left of the shark.

One user joked that “it’s clearly a half-shark”, while another cited the find as “leftovers”.

Professor Mark Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science later told National Geographic’s new WILD show Cannibal Sharks that all sharks are cannibals, even the fearsome great whites.

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