Great white sharks are known to us as the ocean's most fearsome predators, and apparently they have cause to fear each other as well. A giant great white in the mood for a spot of cannibalism attacked another great white shark in south Australia on Tuesday.
Caught on camera by Adam Malski, the 33-year-old scuba diver witnessed the feeding frenzy off the Neptune Islands and posted it to YouTube, where it has since received over two million hits.
[Credit: Barcroft TV]
About 50 miles offshore, a 8.5-foot (2.6-meter) great white swam up to the boat to innocently feast on some waiting bait, when out of nowhere a second shark - which was twice the size of the first - broke through the surface of the water and sank its razor-sharp teeth into its rival's head. Ironically, Malski and the rest of the crew had just been talking about this exact Jaws on Jaws situation.
"The day where the shark attacked the other was surreal. I asked the dive master and skipper of the boat what would happen if a smaller shark got in the way of a larger shark," Malski told The Telegraph.
The skipper responded, "The big shark would take the smaller one down."
"Literally six seconds later," he said, "that amazing scene was witnessed by me, the skipper, and the dive master."
Despite their bad reputation and Malski's first-hand witness to the brutal attack, he says his experience has changed his view on sharks.
"I spent many hours observing them in their territory and up close and saw 18 magnificent creatures in total. All of which were inquisitive but not aggressive," he said, according to Mail Online. "Even when one bumped my hand and camera when I was 20 meters underwater, there was no aggression - just inquisitiveness."
Great whites are the largest predatory fish on Earth, according to National Geographic, sometimes exceeding 20 feet and weighing up to 5,000 pounds. And even though they are seen as mindless killing machines, boasting mouths with 300 serrated triangular teeth, this image has started to fade with more scientific research.
It remains unclear, however, whether the larger shark's intention was to engage in a bit of cannibalism, at least initially, or whether it had merely been going after the bait when the smaller Jaws got in its way.
Gilbert, the 16-foot bigger Jaws, has been spotted in the waters around Neptune Islands since, but the smaller shark remains to be seen.
It's a shark-eat-shark world out there.
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