Tourists Record Seal As It Escapes Great White Shark Off South Africa
A group of tourists on a cruise off the South African coast managed to record the exploits of a lucky seal as it managed to escape the jaws of an aggressive great white shark.
Footage of the incident was captured by vacationers aboard boats operated by Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises on Tuesday, according to the Daily Mail. As the tour searched for great white sharks off the coast of Gansbaai, South Africa, they observed the cape fur seal’s exploits as it repeatedly launched from the water in order to escape one of the apex predators.
Filmed from several angles, the seal can be seen leaping out of the water so close to the shark tour boats that passengers were splashed by the animal during its frantic flight. The white shark was in close pursuit, launching from the sea in an attempt to capture the seal, its dorsal fin cutting the surface.
WATCH: Lucky tourists get close up show of shark vs seal in Gansbaai http://t.co/NqfNRmgaHb pic.twitter.com/EOPIz7aINd
— Traveller24_SA (@Traveller24_SA) July 9, 2015
According to the Marine Dynamics Blog, the appearance of the seal and shark caught the tour operators completely by surprise.
“During some of our trips, our sister company’s vessel, Whale Whisperer comes by to have a look at the sharks, today they got more than they bargained for as the seal swam in front of the boat and was met by an estimated 3.5m White shark intent on a feed! What followed was a game of cat and mouse as the shark zigged and zagged after the frantically porpoising seal, in the end it appears that it may have been the seal’s lucky day! Although it took all on board Slashfin and Whale Whisperer by surprise, we were lucky enough to capture some photographs as seen below and incredible footage.”
The seal was reportedly able to escape the white shark, avoiding an unfortunate end as the great white’s prey. The Dyer Island Cruises blog credited the seal’s “stealth and speed” with facilitating its escape from the white shark, though other members of its species often aren’t so lucky.
Are You Team Shark Or Team Seal? http://t.co/arwN7AQqRJ pic.twitter.com/LJYeeA4ZFg
— Boing de Guayaba (@BoingGuayaba) July 9, 2015
South Africa is known as one of the world’s most popular hotspots for great white sharks. A vibrant cage diving industry allows tourists to get up-close and personal with the sharks like few other places in the world. This often leads to unusual footage of the great whites, as the Inquisitr has previously reported, from seal escapes to the occasional shark photobomb.
[Image via YouTube/ MarineDynamics Shark Tours]
