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Two Great White Sharks Bite Giant Chunks Out Of Each Other In Frenzied Attack

Two Great White Sharks Bite Giant Chunks Out Of Each Other In Frenzied Attack

The dramatic footage aired in National Geographic's Cannibal Sharks documentary back in 2019

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

A savage attack between two great white sharks has been caught on camera in which the frenzied creatures tear giant chunks out of each other's flesh. Watch below:

The incredibly rare footage featured on the 2019 National Geographic documentary Cannibal Sharks. And it's not as unusual as you might think for sharks to chow down on members of their own species.

Professor Mark Meekan, from the Australian Institute for Marine Science, reveals that all sharks are cannibals - even fearsome great whites.

He said: "It's not just one rogue shark attacking other sharks or even one species of shark attacking other sharks, it's lots of different sharks turning on each other."

Another gruesome photograph shows a 12-foot long great white shark corpse, almost sliced in half by two major bites, removing most of the middle of the shark's body.

In recent years, more and more mutilated carcasses are being pulled out of the ocean around Australia's Gold Coast. Some have been so severely bitten, just the bloody severed heads remain.

One of the carcasses pulled out of the ocean.
SWNS

One of the sharks had their head bitten off.
SWNS

Professor Meekan has a theory about why this is happening and believes it's to do with measures to keep the hungry predators away from swimmers.

As part of the Gold Coast's safety measures, nets and bated hook lines are deployed. But hooked sharks send out distress signals which are picked up by rival sharks who fancy an easy meal.

Examining a photograph of a shark with two huge bites taken out of its centre, Professor Meekan said: "This is an enormous shark. It's 12-feet long but look at the size of that bite, it's absolutely massive."

One of the sharks had two enormous bite marks.
SWNS

He continued: "That's an immense amount of power you need to take a bite out of another shark like that - you have to be pretty big yourself.

"If I was a betting man, I might even pick another great white shark for that one. These things are apex predators for good reason."

Amazingly, new research shows that sharks have been eating each other for millennia.

An examination of fossilised poo taken from the prehistoric orthacanthus - a shark that swam the oceans 300m million years ago - found it contained fossilised baby shark teeth.

The two sharks attack each other.
SWNS

Professor Meekan said: "That shows that 300m years ago these were cannibal sharks. Shark on shark predation is a fundamental trait."

Not only do sharks have a cannibalistic streak, they can also travel incredible distances. Last month, a 17-foot great white shark became the second in history to cross the Atlantic.

Worryingly, the 3,541lb female shark is heading for the UK - just in time for summer.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: Sharks, TV and Film, Animals