Shark becomes beached, regurgitates stomach

Sometimes you get stressed. Very stressed. But we’re pretty sure you never get so stressed that you regurgitate your stomach.

But it’s not so uncommon for sharks to do this.

This poor shark was having a very bad day. It became beached in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. But things got worse for this guy: he got so stressed about it all that he basically threw up his entire stomach. Not stomach contents, but stomach.

This process is called stomach eversion. Sharks can often respond to stressful situations, such as being stranded on a beach or being caught in a trap, by bringing up their stomach. And it happens in less than a second.

“It’s like you or I throwing up,” said James Ballantyne, shark researcher and professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph. Except, “Usually it goes back in.”

The process is believed to help remove food particles that can’t be digested or parasites from the lining of the stomach. The sharks can usually swallow the stomach back down.

For this six-foot young male blue shark, the stomach was pushed partway back into his mouth and he was returned to the sea by rescuers.

The Center for Coastal Studies said that they will update the status of the shark should they receive any news.

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