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Tourists Blown Away As Great White Shark Suddenly Strikes And Swallows Bird Whole

Tourists Blown Away As Great White Shark Suddenly Strikes And Swallows Bird Whole

Holidaymakers were on a shark tour off Port Lincoln in Australia

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

This is the moment a great white shark breached the surface of the water to grab a petrel bird - right in front of a group of holidaymakers. Watch the clip below:

Benjamin Kessler was one of those on board a shark tour off Port Lincoln, Australia on 3 June when he witnessed the shark strike.

During the tour, tuna tail bait was thrown to the ocean to lure the shark closer to the boat, but this also attracted some birds.

The four-metre shark approached with a hunger for more than just some bait, and turned its attention to the unsuspecting bird.

Twice the shark attempted to get the bird, but it was the third attempt at the feathered snack that proved to be the decisive strike.

The bird kept getting away.
Caters/@venturingkessler
Caters/@venturingkessler

The shark breached the water and got the bird with an almighty chomp before dragging it to a watery grave.

Benjamin said: "We set off from Port Lincoln towards Neptune Islands, 70km away, and once we arrived, the tour operators used chum to attract fish and eventually threw out a tuna tail to lure in the sharks.

"This also attracted a few birds, including a giant petrel bird - the petrel was scavenging the bait. When the shark arrived, it nudged the bird twice within a span of one-and-a-half hours, approximately."

Caters/@venturingkessler

He went on to add: "This was probably a warning as great whites are known to be territorial around a food source. The shark breached and grabbed the petrel bird that was scavenging the shark bait (tuna tail) before swimming away with the bird.

"I was in awe as it happened so fast but I was anticipating this final moment."

Benjamin may have been in awe during his encounter, but another group of women were definitely less impressed as they were circled by a group of sharks in a separate incident earlier this month.

Lacey Faciane, Casie Thompson and Qyuston Eubanks were on a yellow float in the water at Pensacola beach during the Memorial Day weekend, when all of a sudden they realised they were surrounded by hammerhead sharks.

Jacqueline Lesso via Storyful

In total, around seven sharks began to circle the boat, with the women estimating some of them to be up to 7ft long.

The women could do nothing but wait it out until the sharks decided to move on.

Speaking to WALA, Eubanks said: "I was like, 'Lord protect us! If it's time for us to go, it's time for us to go. Just protect us.'"

Featured Image Credit: Caters/@venturingkessler

Topics: Community, Animals, shark