A ruthless sea otter turned nature on its head by appearing to eat a shark while floating lazily on its back – in what is being hailed as the first documented encounter of its kind.
Husband and wife Don Henderson and Alice Cahill were photographing wildlife in Morro Bay, California, US, on November 10 when they spotted the furry predator swimming backwards holding its oversized snack.
Rather than carrying one of its usual foods of clams or crabs, the Southern sea otter was snapped holding on to a horned shark.
Undeterred by its prey being the same size as itself, the furry predator can be seen putting its teeth into the unfortunate fish’s head while holding it in place with its webbed paws.
While Northern sea otters are known to regularly predate on fish in Alaska and Russia, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife believe this is the first documented encounter between the two species.
Spokesperson Michael Harris said: “To my knowledge and a group of colleagues, this is the first documented horn shark capture by a sea otter.
Don said: “I was surprised and completely perplexed by what we saw. The shark was dead the whole time we saw it. The otter was swimming around with it, sometimes cradling it and nibbling on it, other times diving below the surface with it.