Scientists finally identified what swallowed a great white shark whole, and the discovery is disturbing. The predator vanished without a trace, its tracking tag abruptly going silent after years of consistent data.
In 2003, a research team off the southern coast of Australia attached an electronic tag to a female great white shark. The shark was an adult, roughly nine feet long, and in good health. After tagging, she was released and swam back into open water. Four months later, the tag washed ashore hundreds of kilometers away. When researchers downloaded its data, they found the tag had recorded a rapid te…