Sporting

Osprey Carries Shark Carrying Fish

A Florida photographer captures a rare circle-of-life moment

Photo: Doc Jon

A week and a half ago, Florida resident and nature photographer Doc Jon was walking along Madeira Beach, when he spotted an osprey flying above him. “I always have my camera, it’s like a limb attached to me,” he says. So he snapped a few photos. Looking through the camera lens, he could see the bird of prey was carrying a fish—no big deal, he captures eagles and osprey in action frequently.

But when he zoomed in on the images, he could see the osprey’s talons hooking what looked like a small shark—likely a dogfish. Back at home on his computer, he zoomed in further. “Sure enough, the bird was carrying a shark, but then I see this other thing—whoa!” he exclaims, “That’s a fish in the shark’s mouth!”

Doc Jon

The osprey carried a shark, which carried a fish—a once-in-a-lifetime moment of predator-predator-prey. Or some sort of Tur-duc-ken (O-shark-ish?) situation. “The odds are impossible that I got this shot,” Doc Jon says. “I take pictures all the time, but I don’t know how I’ll ever top this.”


> More on ospreys: Live camera shows hatchlings near Savannah


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