A harbour master from the UK is claiming that local seals are being butchered by a Greenland shark. Donald Low, who lives in Fife, Scotland, believes he has solved the mystery of why dozens of savaged seals have been washing up on the Fife shoreline.
After watching a television programme entitled ‘The Seal Ripper’ about the deaths of seals around a remote Atlantic island, Mr Low has dismissed rumours that the Scottish sea life is being ripped to shreds by fishing lines and instead believes there is a deadly predator on the prowl.
The crew filming The Seal Ripper concluded that a Greenland Shark, which is native to Greenland and Iceland and can grow up to 7.3 metres long, was killing the mammals and leaving them with strange corkscrew-shaped wounds. It is believed the sharks have been moving to shallower waters in search of food.
“The seals on the programme were exactly the same as the 50 or so which have been washed up in Fife. They all had a funny corkscrew cut around their bodies with the meat stripped off,” said Mr Low in a report by Fife Today.
“I was scratching my brain as there isn’t much I don’t know about fish but this seems to explain it,” he added.
Mr Low went on to say that like many whales that have been spotted recently, he believes that Greenland sharks could be making their way to Scottish waters. He added that despite being a seaman for about 20 years, he is not familiar with the nature of the large, foreign fish.
“They’re biting seals, but what’s the difference between a seal and a person?” he asked.