Graphic video footage captured Thursday off Provincetown, Mass., is a vivid reminder that great white sharks will swim into very shallow water in pursuit of prey.
The footage, captured by Corey Nunes and shared to Facebook by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, shows a white shark devouring a seal just feet from shore at Race Point Beach. (Viewers are cautioned that blood appears briefly in the footage.)
“This is another good reminder that white sharks hunt in shallow waters off [Cape Cod] and, based on tagging data, we know that October is a peak season month for white shark activity off the Cape,” the Conservancy wrote in its description.
https://www.facebook.com/atlanticwhiteshark/posts/3426123937468897
The first video shows the shark herding the seal almost against the shore as onlookers react with laughter and awe. “I’m outta here! I’m outta here!” one of them says jokingly, apparently because the action is so close.
ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Baby humpback whale ‘finds her wings’ with full body breach (photos)
The second video is more of the same, with the predation resuming a bit farther from shore.
Great white sharks congregate off Cape Cod seasonally to prey on seals. Tagging-based research by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, in partnership with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, began in mid-June.
However, peak activity is late summer through early fall. Last year, scientists tagged a record 50 great white sharks, beginning with the tagging of 15 sharks in July and ending with the tagging of seven sharks in November.
–Generic white shark fin image is courtesy of ©Pete Thomas