Meet Florence, the world's first vegetarian shark who prefers celery sticks and cucumber to fish



A shark at the Birmingham National Sea Life Center is surprising her handlers - she appears to be the world's first vegetarian shark.

Florence, a six-foot nurse shark, started life as a meat-eater, but following an operation in 2009 to remove a rusty hook from her jaw, she has completely stopped eating her normal prey.

In fact, her handlers need to resort to devious tactics to get protein into Florence's diet - such as hiding pieces of fish inside her celery, and even in hollowed-out cucumbers.

Watch out lettuce! The nurse shark at the Birmingham National Sea Life Center in England appears to be the world's first vegetarian shark

Eating away: The shark refuses to eat any form of meat or fish - so staff try to sneak fish into the lettuce Curator Graham Burrows said: 'We’re having to hide pieces of fish inside celery sticks, hollowed out cucumbers and between the leaves of lettuces to get her to eat them. 'And it has to be well hidden, because if she realises it’s there she’ll ignore the offering and wait for the strictly vegetarian option.' RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Discovered: The turtle the size of a SmartCar - which would... Limbless Frenchman dodges sharks and jellyfish between... Share this article Share Florence’s mouth is filled with razor-sharp, serrated teeth designed for demolishing fish and crustaceans. Instead she uses them for pulping broccoli and cabbage and any other greens she can steal from fellow ocean tank resident Molokai the green turtle. It is not the first time Florence has caused her guardians some concern. 'She was off her food for a good while when she first arrived from Florida with three other nurse sharks at our main collection centre in Dorset,' said Graham. 'She was given an ultrasound scan which revealed a fishing hook buried deep inside her mouth.'

Painful: Florence, had to undergo a risky out-of-water surgery procedure to remove a rusty hook from her jaw