Bull shark vs stingray: Video shows potentially violent encounter come to comical end

If a bull shark took on a stingray, odds would likely be in the shark’s favor.

But it’s the stingray that proved to be the smarter of the two predators, based on a comical video shared on Facebook this week by the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab.

It shows a large stingray was enjoying the surf off Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when a 6.5-foot bull shark came out of nowhere.

What followed was 100% cowardice, as the ray turned tail and sped away so fast, it kicked up a wall of sand.

The hungry shark tried to follow but was blinded by the sandstorm. The ray got away.

“It all happened right in front of me. So amazing,” shark researcher James Sulikowski told McClatchy News.

“The (bull) sharks are big and territorial. I didn’t think they liked a ray sneaking in to eat some of their food. Bull sharks primarily eat fish, but do also eat stingrays if the opportunity arises.”

Female bull sharks can reach 11 feet and 500 pounds, and they are “not a picky eater,” according to the National Wildlife Federation. “Although rare, bull sharks have also been recorded eating other bull sharks.”

Meanwhile, Atlantic stingrays have “a whip-like tail (with) sharp spines that contain venom,” according to the National Library of Medicine. “Stingray venom is toxic.”

Sulikowski’s lab is based at Arizona State University, but he is currently teaming with other marine researchers to study pregnant sharks off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The region’s coast is a popular ecotourism destination, and bull sharks are among its biggest attractions.

“I was asked to collaborate with Saving Our Sharks and Pelagios Kakunja to better understand how bull sharks are using this area,” Sulikowski said. “One of their hypotheses is that females are pregnant and that nearby areas serve as a nursery grounds. I was called in to perform ultrasounds on females so that we could then track their movement to see if this hypothesis is correct.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Bull shark vs stingray: Video shows potentially violent encounter come to comical end."