Fishermen in South Africa have captured video of a great white shark struggling to wrestle a piece of bait from the side of their boat, just inches away from a cage used by divers.
According to The Telegraph , the footage was filmed in Mossel Bay, along South Africa’s Garden Route. The area is known for its shark diving resorts as South Africa is one of the world’s most populated great white enclaves.
After approaching and biting down on the bait, the great white refused to let go, despite the fact that its head was held out of the water. Determined to get a piece of the fish, the shark twisted violently, trying to tear off a piece with its jaws. The great white eventually relented, dropping back into the water without taking the entirety of the bait.
Tourists in South Africa are able to observe the sharks from the safety of metal cages, while the animals are drawn in by the scent of bait, like the fish head that the shark attempted to make off with in the video. As the great white struggled to claim a piece of fish, divers could be seen observing the shark from within the safety of the cage.
Great White Shark vs. Great White Shark. It’s not the next @SyfyTV movie, it’s real life. http://t.co/zHQ8vR9ukk pic.twitter.com/IY1LLg2UYg
— New Media Rockstars (@NewRockstars) October 1, 2014
The footage comes to light just a few days after two other great whites were filmed fighting with each other 50 miles off the Australian coast. The highly unusual video revealed a great white approaching a piece of bait, before a larger, 16 foot great white shark attacked it. The large shark, nicknamed Gilbert, survived the encounter, according to The Huffington Post , although the smaller animal hasn’t been seen since.
Great white shark attacks another in astonishing display of cannibalism http://t.co/gNb3Bgon0U pic.twitter.com/RsRtHTGekD — HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) October 1, 2014
Solitary predators, great whites are elusive animals, not fully understood by science. Along America’s East Coast, OCEARCH researchers have embarked on a project to tag and track sharks, including great whites, in an effort to learn more about their habitat and life cycles.
As The Inquisitr previously noted, a great white nicknamed Katharine has been widely followed by the public since being tagged last year, traveling south into the Gulf of Mexico and recently returning to Cape Cod. Australian authorities, who just last month rejected a proposed three year long shark cull, were able to recently tag six great whites on a single expedition, bringing the total number of animals they track to 188.
[Image via Entertainment.ie ]
