Jonathan Marlowe experienced one of the strangest moments along with his friends at the Sprinter City Disc Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They were at hole 11 when they spotted an osprey carrying none other than a small hammerhead shark in its talons. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology explained that these water-loving raptors are capable of diving and hunting their prey. In this case, the eagle did not eat its prize, which they state is not unusual.
It’s also not uncommon for golfers to encounter wildlife on the courses, but in this case, finding a hammerhead shark is certainly noteworthy. Marlowe decided to post it on his Facebook profile, where later, another player commented that they had found the dead fish under a tree, and that had they not read Marlowe’s post, they would have never been able to explain how that animal had ended up there.
Golfing day
A meetup to play golf with friends turned into one of the strangest experiences I had ever had. It’s the experience of Jonathan Marlowe and his friends, who were playing golf at the Splinter City Disc Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “I was just there to play disc golf,” says Marlowe, still unable to believe what he had witnessed. When they were at hole 11, they spotted an osprey carrying something in its talons that they couldn’t identify.
“It’s not unusual to see an osprey carrying something, but take note because it’s still really cool to see it,” says Marlowe, who lives in the area. While watching, two crows suddenly appeared and started chasing the osprey, and within seconds the three birds took their fight toward a nearby tree. “That’s when the osprey lost its lunch,” and something crashed to the ground, says Marlowe. “I thought it would be a random fish.”
What was the ospreay carrying in its talons?
The prize it had lost was a small hammerhead shark, which was already dead on the ground, and is not a common prey for eagles. However, it is understandable and makes sense, since water-loving raptors are expert fishermen, capable of diving from a height of up to one hundred feet at speeds that can reach 50 miles per hour.
First, they plunge their legs with extra-curved talons to grab and hold slippery prey they find in the water and have spotted from above before diving. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the crows’ reaction is completely normal, as they often flock together with larger birds for safety, especially in spring, when they are far from their nesting sites or food sources.
What did they do with the hammerhead shark?
It’s not unusual for golfers to encounter wildlife on the courses, as they are often in natural areas, but when it’s a small hammerhead shark, the experience takes on a completely different dimension. “We couldn’t believe it and kept asking ourselves, ‘Did that really just happen?’” says Marlowe, who speculates that the osprey was hunting around the nearby Springmaid pier.
Before leaving, Marlon and his friends decided to leave the hammerhead shark under the tree where it had fallen in case the eagle decided to return. The most curious thing about this experience is that, after posting photos of the incident on his Facebook profile, Marlow received a comment from another golfer saying that he had found the fish. “They were standing there in shock with no frame of reference for what might have happened,” Marlowe says. “But then they saw the post and said: ‘Thank God, because how do you explain a hammerhead randomly in the forest?”.