Half-Eaten Shark Washes up on Florida Beach


21 February, 2017

This is What's Trending Today.

Last year, VOA Learning English wrote about a strange "Ice Monster" caught on video in Alaska.

Many internet users thought a piece of frozen rope in a river was actually a monster, like the Loch Ness monster in Scotland.

A partly-eaten shark was found in Volusia County, Florida.
A partly-eaten shark was found in Volusia County, Florida.

Now there is a new water-related mystery.

Over the weekend, people on a Florida beach found a half-eaten shark.

Officials in Volusia County said the shark was a blacktip or spinner shark, slightly less than two meters long.

People are trying to figure out what took a bite out of the shark.

The county is home to the well-known Daytona Beach and has a large number of shark reports each year. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported in late 2016 three surfers in the area suffered non-fatal shark bites on the same day.

Florida wildlife officials say two large great white sharks were seen in the area this winter. The sharks were a little more than four meters long.

Many news organizations posted about the shark discovery on Twitter.

Some comments on the stories included: "just a reminder there is always someone bigger than you."

The Florida Program for Shark Research is part of the University of Florida. In response to the story, the program said"that is a shark-eat-shark world out ther".¡

One Twitter user wrot" ¡megalodon got hi"!¡

Megalodon was a predecessor to tod'y¡s great white sharks, thought to have lived many millions of years ago.

And that is What's Trending Today.

I¡m Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

What do you think bit the shark that washed up on the beach? Let us know in the comments section.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

surfer ¨ n. a person who rides ocean waves on a board

predecessor ¨ n. something that comes before something else

fatal ¨ adj. causing death