The Top 22 Strangest Things Found in Shark Stomachs

Sharks are often maligned as cold-blooded killing machines. They are indeed coldblooded and spend their lives killing and devouring things with their rows of razor-sharp teeth, and we struggle to sympathize. Perhaps an old adage usually applied to humans will help us get a better understanding of these aquatic apex predators: “You are what you eat.” If this idiom holds true for sharks, then they are just about anything and everything. Take a look at the strangest things found in shark stomachs.

Here are the strangest things found in shark stomachs…

22. A Drum

A set of traditional tom-tom drums are one of the strangest things found in shark stomachs. In this case, it was found in the belly of a tiger shark that was caught around Senegal.

Some say the shark probably thought the drums were food because traditional drums are made of animal skin.

21. Chicken Coop

This is probably one of the strangest things found in a Sharks Stomach.

An entire Chicken Coop containing chickens were found in the Stomach of a Shark. You can help but wonder how it got into the Ocean in the first place.

20. A Bottle of Wine

For a water-creature, you would think that it would have gotten tired of anything that had liquid inside of it. But for the shark that swallowed a bottle of Madeira, it obviously wanted to taste something different.

In Portugal in 1942, a fisherman captured the shark and found the bottle of wine in its stomach. We’re sure this is one of the strangest things found in shark stomachs that this fisherman ever saw.

19. Tires

In the early 70s, about a million tires were dumped into the sea by environmental activists to create a man-made reef. Unfortunately, the product was a failure.

Most of the tires ended up being some of the strangest things found in shark stomachs. Today tires are still commonly found in sharks, probably because they’ve become accustomed to the tires in the seas.

18. A Camera

This particular shark is obviously not a fan of the paparazzi.

It is no hidden fact that nature networks tend to do a lot of filming underwater and as a result, are exposed to its hazards. These networks sometimes film during feeding time. With the cameras all up in their faces, the shark probably thought the video camera was part of the menu.

17. License Plate

This item is reported to be a favorite junk material for tiger sharks.

Why do they like them? We don’t know for sure, but license plates are one of the most common strange things found in sharks stomachs.

16. Polar Bear

Yes. A full-sized polar bear is one of the largest and strangest things found in shark stomachs!

The shark that managed to carry out this unbelievable and strange feat was a green shark, a species that mostly lives and hunts in the Arctic. This underwater creature can grow over 20 feet and live up to the age of 200! No wonder it is regarded as the longest living vertebrae on earth.

15. A Medieval Medallion

A finely carved (though badly worn) Portuguese medallion dating from the late 13th or early 14th century turned up halfway around the world — inside a shark! A fisherman in Malaysia caught a small shark and brought it home for dinner one night.

When his wife began to prepare the evening’s meal, she found the valuable disc within its belly. The medallion had likely sat on the sea floor for hundreds of years before being accidentally gobbled up by the young shark. This is definitely one of the strangest things found in shark stomachs.

14. A Dolphin

Marine biologists in Florida recently found the remains of a 7-foot dolphin in the belly of a 9-foot tiger shark.

Dolphins are rarely prey for sharks, as they are well equipped to fight back and usually travel in numbers. That means this was either a case of scavenging on the shark’s behalf or it was an extremely hungry, extremely badass tiger shark.

13. A Cannon Ball

In the year 1823, a group of fisherman in the West Indies were carving up a shark they caught when they found a cannonball lodged in the creature’s stomach.

For a time, no one could figure out how such a thing could have happened. Finally, it was surmised that the heavy iron ball must have been attached to a person to make them sink. The shark ate the drowned victim, deadweight and all.

12. A Reindeer

The Greenland shark looks like something carved out of rough granite. They’re gray and craggy and, frankly, ugly. They also live up to two centuries and grow more than 20 feet long. Oh, and also they have been known to eat polar bears and swallow reindeer whole.

That’s right, at least one of these fearsome fish of the north ate Rudolph — antlers, hoofs and all.

11. A Knight Wearing a Suit of Armor

This is absolutely one of the strangest things found in shark stomachs. Apparently, as reported by a 16th-century French naturalist named Guillaume Rondelet, the partial remains of a knight still wearing much of his armor were found within the belly of a great white shark.

Rondelet was a respected man of science and letters in his day and focussed on aquatic life, so we’re going to take him at his word.

10. Fur Coat

According to the New York Times, one shark ate an expensive fur coat!

A rich person was definitely angry about this.

9. Rubber Boots

Can you imagine losing shoes to a shark?

Especially rubber boots when you are trying to stay dry!

8. Porcupine

How did a porcupine get into the stomach of a shark?

Ouch. That must of hurt for the shark.

7. Pet Dogs

Everything from an adult spaniel complete with a collar to a bulldog’s head has been found inside a Tiger shark’s stomach.

Reminder: keep your dogs out of the ocean.

6. A Horse Head

One question we have is: why was a horse in the ocean?

We might never know.

5. Bag of Money

Why was a person carrying around a bag of money?

They must’ve regretted carrying around lots of money that day!

4. Birth Control Pills

There was a report that an entire birth control packet was found inside a Tiger shark.

Sharks need to have safe sex too!

3. Barbie Dolls

The best part of this story is that Barbi‘s hair was still intact.

The shark probably ate it all in one bite!

2. Unopened Cans Of Fish

Both an unopened can of sardines and an unopened can of salmon have been found inside the stomach of a shark.

You can understand why a shark will want to eat these cans!

1. Another Shark

In Delaware, researchers saw a Sand Tiger shark leap out of the water to grab their captured Dogfish Shark.

These sharks have no mercy!

Did you enjoy learning about the strangest things found in shark stomachs? If so, click next to learn about the most terrifying shark attacks.