We have previously viewed the dangers to great white sharks. Now, we turn to the opposite end of the scale with the small, but no less remarkable, swell shark.
As explained in the previous post, swell sharks have a very good defence mechanism. However, they still have very persistent foes who pose great threats to it throughout its life.
Unlike the great white shark, the swell shark is not often threatened by humans. Hunters see it as an unremarkable prize. Although I would beg to differ, as I find it a wonderful creature, their lack of interest in hunting it is appreciated.
Primarily, swell shark eggs are often swept onto the shore by the tides. Although not a technical predator, the waves can be a fatal foe for the unborn swell sharks. Once they have hatched, swell sharks face an immediate threat from lobsters and crabs, with which they share the reefs of the Indian and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. These clawed crustaceans will trap a newly-hatched swell shark pup and devour it. Thankfully, shark pups immediately know how to swim and hunt when they leave their eggs, so this does not happen often.
As adolescents and adults, swell sharks are no longer likely to fall prey to lobsters and crabs, however, their new predator is even more deadly than the last: black tip reef sharks.
Black tip reef sharks are not generally viewed as the best hunters, but come sundown, they congregate into schools of up to fifty or sixty and stalk the reefs for unfortunate prey. They might not be big but neither are the swell sharks, which are dwarfed by the night-stalking hunters; one bite from those 'giants' would end a swell shark's life.
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| Black tip reef sharks gathering at a reef to hunt come nightfall. |
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