A gruesome photo of a stingray with what appears to be huge shark bites in its side serves as a timely reminder for swimmers this summer.
The stingray washed up on Wednesday morning with two pieces of meat missing south of the Champagne Pools at 75 Mile Beach on Queensland's K'gari – formerly known as Fraser Island.
It was still bleeding on the beach.
The photo shocked tourists but prompted locals to say it is proof why no one should swim in the ocean at K'gari, where sharks and sea angels are known to live.
The stingray was found washed up with chunks of meat missing south of the Champagne Pools along 75 Mile Beach in K'Gari in Queensland on Wednesday morning.
Swimming in the ocean is not recommended on K'Gari due to the presence of dangerous marine life
Daryl McPhee, associate professor of environmental sciences at Bond University, said Yahoo it is likely that the attack was by a shark.
“There's a wide variety of different shark species there and some of those shark species like to eat stingrays,” he said.
'Lots of whale sharks and also tiger sharks.
He said the attack is not rare because sharks are opportunistic.
'K'gari has always had a lot of sharks. The only reason there haven't been as many shark bites is because there simply aren't many people swimming there.”
He also said the stingray species is known to sometimes live in shallow waters, making it even more important for tourists to be vigilant.
Many tourists were shocked by the find, while some were already aware of the presence of sharks
Tourists were stunned by the brutality.
“OMG that's scary,” one person wrote.
Meanwhile, others were baffled as to why people wanted to go into the ocean around the island.
“And people still want to swim in the surf at K'Gari,” one person wrote.
“No substitute for common sense,” said another.
Other tourists saw the funny side of the shark attack.
“Surprised you get that much back, you can still get a few scallops out of it,” one person wrote.