Great white shark shown almost bitten in two by the rival shark in a terrifying video

A shocking video showing a shark almost bitten in two by another shark has emerged, as experts question whether cannibal attacks among creatures are more common than we could. realize.

A clip of the documentary Nat Geo WILD Cannibal sharks shows a huge predator trying to bite a small shark. Cannibal sharks is being executed as part of Nat Geo WILD SHARKFEST, which contains user-generated content shot around the world.

There is "more and more evidence that shark shark attacks are happening much more than we ever imagined," according to Nat Geo WILD.

The video was shot by divers from the island of Neptune, South Australia, near the city of Adelaide, a place known for harboring great white sharks.

In the video, a diver is heard shouting blasphemies as he watches the shark come out of the water towards another shark whose tail is beating in apparent distress.

Adam Malski of Sydney, Australia, who shot the footage in 2014, told News.com.the at the time: "I had literally come up from my 25 [meter] dive and dry and catch my camera. I told the dive master: "What would happen if a small shark hobbled a bigger one? They said that they had never seen it before, literally in less than six seconds – it happened. I was filming while trying to stay still and calm because it was so amazing. They are so elusive that I was lucky enough to be there. "

The excerpt from the documentary also presents a breathtaking picture taken off North Stradbroke Queensland Island, near Brisbane, where the fleshy pink interior of a shark is exposed after being almost bitten in half by another bigger shark.

According to a Sky News report From 2009, when the picture was taken, the shark would have measured more than 5 meters long, while the smaller shark measured 3.7 meters long. The little big white was towed after being caught on a drumline when he was attacked.

Dr. Mark Meekan, a fish biologist at the Australian Institute of Ocean Sciences, who has studied the effects of fishing on sharks in northern Australia, commented on the photo in the documentary. .

"What an incredible photo," he said. "I mean, it's a huge shark, it's 12 feet long, but look at the size of this bite – it's absolutely huge – it's a huge amount of power you need to bite." another shark like this, you must be big enough yourself. "

Michael Heithaus, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, who also participated in the documentary, said Newsweek"Sharks eat other sharks more often than most people think.For some shark species, such as bull sharks, great hammerhead sharks and tiger sharks, smaller sharks are favorite prey. .

In some cases, sharks will cannibalize smaller individuals of the same species, he explained. "The reason many species have areas of growth in shallow protected waters is to stay away from the larger sharks that would eat them until they become big enough to to be safe."

In fact, experts believe that sharks devouring each other go back hundreds of millions of years.

A study published in 2016 concluded that sharks living 300 million years ago probably ate their offspring when needed. Scientists having published their results in the journal Paleontology analyzed the feces of Orthacanthus sharks, and found the juvenile animal teeth indicating an act known as "fillial cannibalism".

Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway University, London, co-author of the study, commented at the time: "We do not know why Orthacanthus used to eat his own young people.

"However, the Carboniferous period was a time when marine fish began to colonize freshwater marshes in large numbers. It is possible that Orthacanthus used inland waterways as protected nurseries to rear its babies, but then consumed them as food when other resources became scarce. "

And despite their cannibalistic ways, Heithaus said that sharks are unfairly mistreated. He said Newsweek: "One of the most common misconceptions is that they are blind killing machines that eat all the time, and sharks spend most of their time not eating and not attacking everything. 'they see."

Highlighting another misconception, he pointed out that sharks are not all the same size.

"There are more than 500 species and their size varies from the palm of the hand to the size of a school bus," Heithaus said.

This article has been updated with comments from Michael Heithaus.