A professional angler is giving people the creeps on social media, after revealing strange wounds were found on a large tuna caught off Australia.
Jason Moyce — known as “Trapman Bermagui” — posted a photo of the fish Oct. 29, showing it had at least a half dozen chunks of meat missing out of its side and belly.
The wounds were too far apart to be a single bite mark ... too round to be claw marks ... and too similar to be random.
Moyce is a blogger known for catching strange creatures off southeastern Australia, but this was a case in which his 208,000 followers were fixated on what he didn’t catch: The creature responsible.
His photo has gotten more than 1,100 reactions and comments on Facebook, with some noting the “voracious” predator created something akin to “Swiss tuna.”
“An awesome horror movie,” Daniel Rayment posted on Facebook.
“Ok, as if there wasn’t enough things to be scared of in the ocean,” Allen McFarlen wrote.
So what caused the bites?
Moyce believes it was a cookie-cutter shark, a species that nibbles at its prey without killing it.
Cookie-cutters are among the world’s “lesser-known” sharks and also one of the strangest, experts say. Despite being only about 18 inches in length, cookie-cutters were responsible for three attacks on humans in 2019, according to the Florida Museum.
The “cookie-cutter attaches itself to the victim, such as tuna, marlin or other sharks, using strong, suckling lips,” Fresh ‘n Salty reports.
“Afterwards, in a can-opener style, it sticks the teeth out, twists around and cuts out the perfectly circular piece of meat!”
The wounds on the tuna resemble that type of bite. However, a lot of people weren’t convinced, questioning how one fish had so many wounds.
“Never seen one with this many bites,” Eddie Burger posted.
“I’ve seen two bites on one fish rarely. Never anything like this,” Scott King posted.
“Could squid have done this”? James Berry asked.
This story was originally published November 02, 2022 11:37 AM.