Great white shark kills itself hitting metal cage with panicking divers inside
Warning: This article contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
A great white shark killed itself by hitting a metal cage with divers inside, suffering lacerations to the gills which resulted in it drowning.
In footage which appears to have been taken from another diving cage, the great white shark attempts to break into a cage containing two divers and wedges its head between the bars, thrashing around as it attempts to get further in.
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Two divers inside the cage try to keep away from the shark as the water becomes stained red as the animal has become trapped between the bars.
Another video then appeared to show the now dead shark sinking down further into the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
This incident took place in 2019 off the coast of Isla Guadalupe, which is off Mexico's west coast, and footage was uploaded to various social media sites by environmentalist Arturo Islas Allende, who claimed the shark had died due to 'negligence'.
"Great cage design. Killing the shark and putting the diver's lives in jeopardy," one person who saw the footage commented, and others were dismayed at the 'brutal' incident.
Someone else said it was 'unfortunate' that a shark with the aggression to try and get into the cage was just the side to get stuck in it without being able to get out.
Diving company Nautilus Liveaboards released a statement following the incident where it said it was the first time it had seen a shark act like this after over a decade worth of dives.
It also promised to change its cages to stop a similar incident from occurring in the future, and said it contacted its colleagues to warn them of the potential danger the cage design posed to sharks.
Nautilus Liveaboards said: "There was an incident with a great white shark repeatedly charging one of our cages at Guadalupe Island in October towards the end of our 2019 season.
"We were horrified, very sad, upset and worried for both the shark and our divers. We stage approximately 50,000 white shark dives every year and have been running these trips since 2003.
"Our cages are in full compliance with all Mexican Regulations. Never in all our experience have we seen a shark exhibit this behaviour. We own this.
"When the incident happened, we immediately notified the authorities, sent them video of the event and launched an immediate review and root cause analysis.
"There are more sharks than ever before at Guadalupe including a large number of juveniles.
"Our cages are being modified to do our best to prevent this from ever happening again.
"We are encouraging our colleagues with other shark boats to learn from this terrible incident and modify their cages as well."
Topics: Animals, World News, Shark Attacks
Joe Harker