![\"Rio](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Rio-Grande-do-Sul-map.jpeg\")
Map showing the location of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, where the stranded dolphin was found. Credit: Rainer Lesniewski\/Getty Images<\/p>\nResearchers have found and recorded the first forensic evidence of\u00a0a white shark attacking a Franciscana dolphin along the\u00a0coast of southern Brazil.<\/p>\n
The Franciscana dolphin \u2013\u00a0a small dolphin that inhabits the shallow coastal waters of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina \u2013 was found stranded on a beach in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the scientists, the animal\u2019s state of\u00a0decomposition meant it had died between 3 and 5\u00a0days earlier. But it was the\u00a0bite marks on its body that intrigued the team the most.<\/p>\n
Map showing the location of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, where the stranded dolphin was found. Credit: Rainer Lesniewski\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
By assessing the dimensions of the teeth marks, bite morphology, and orientation\u00a0of the\u00a0scars, the researchers identified\u00a0the wounds as being caused by a white shark<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bite measurements indicate that the shark had an estimated total length between 3.6\u20133.8m and weighed between 400\u2013490kg.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBite patterns suggest a subsurface attack strategy, consistent with white shark predation on small cetaceans documented globally,\u201d say the researchers, who published their findings in the journal\u00a0Wildlife Research<\/a>. One of the bites caused \u201chaemorrhage on the dorsal fin, indicating that the cetacean was still alive when it was predated,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n Given the decline of both species (the Franciscana dolphin is so rare it is sometimes referred to as the \u2018ghost dolphin<\/a>‘), it is essential to understand their roles in the ecosystem; this predation event adds another layer to that understanding, conclude the researchers.<\/p>\n