A Great White Shark has caused panic on an American beach after attacking a seal within yards of the shore.
A huge pool of blood was seen close to the beach and swimmers were ushered back to land for their own safety. It looked seriously scary, as you can see in the video.
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The attack, which occurred off the coast of Nauset Beach, a popular holiday destination on the Cape Cod peninsula, took place in full view of tourists and locals, who were terrified by what they saw.
The water was swiftly evacuated and the beach closed off until authorities could be sure that the sharks had left.
Two surfers were in the water at the time of the attack and were able to scramble their way to the sand after the Great White was spotted.
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Speaking to NBC New York, surfer Nisi Schlanger said: "I was just pulling my board and people were yelling 'get out of the water, get out of the water'. I thought I was dead."
Shark sightings have been on the rise over the last few years, with as many as 150 Great Whites seen from the Cape Cod coastline, a number that is now more than twice what it was just three years ago.
"When you have overlap with humans, you do get the potential for these interactions, you know a shark biting a person," said Gregory Skomal, a scientist who has been following the movement of Great White Sharks closely.
He recently captured some amazing footage of a shark in action near Monomoy Island, Massachusetts. The clip shows a monster shark in the water, before taking a swipe at the camera with its teeth.
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The video was uploaded with the title 'Camera Meets Shark' and the caption "Every week is shark week for DMF Scientist Greg Skomal. Check out this amazing underwater footage of one of the regions visiting white sharks from yesterday's research trip."
The DMF in question is the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), which works with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy to research further into the lifestyles of Great White Sharks, so that authorities can better react to their movements and increase education and conservation.
The DMF were happy to point out that, thankfully, the camera survived its run in with one of nature's biggest predators and will live to bite another day. It is unlikely that the same could be said for the unfortunate seal.
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Words: Mike Meehall Wood
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: shark attack, USA, shark, US