Recently, a video showing what looked like a hawk carrying a small shark circulated on social media, wowing people from all over and making a lot more wonder how it was even possible in the first place. But was it really what we thought it was?

Solving The Mystery Of The Shark-Carrying Hawk

If you’ve been spending your time on social media lately while under the coronavirus lockdown, then chances are, you’ve seen a circulating video of what looks like a hawk flying over a beach while carrying a shark struggling to get free. Taken by the Tennessee resident Ashley White from the 117th floor of her apartment, the video made rounds on social media, garnering reactions of all sorts, from people wondering what’s happening to people genuinely amazed and people laughing about it. One user even tweeted that the shark was probably very embarrassed to be in such a situation. In fact, the video even caught the attention of The Asylum, the studio behind the movie franchise "Sharknado," which tweeted "How many of you knew a Sharknado was coming next?"

Was it actually a hawk carrying a shark? It’s pretty hard to guess based on the short video of course. But that didn’t stop people and experts from guessing. Some said that it was likely an eagle, which is plausible. Then there are some that said it could be a condor, although it’s dissipated since condors are not a bird of prey.

And now, the majority of Twitter users agreed that it was most likely an osprey carrying a ladyfish (or elops), not a shark. Coming from the Latin word "os" that means bone and "frango" that means break, ospreys are also called sea hawks or fish hawks. They are large birds of prey raptor that usually feed on fish and have cosmopolitan range. Additionally, ospreys are also "indicator species," which means that if they leave an area, the fish in there are most likely sick or poisoned.

So there you go, it’s not a hawk carrying a shark. That doesn’t mean the fish isn’t embarrassed to be there, though. We can only guess.

osprey
Commonly mistaken as hawks, ospreys are large birds of prey that usually feed on fish. photo by Pixabay (CC0)
RELATED STORIES