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Great White Sharks Bite Chunks Out Of Each Other In Shocking Attack

Rachel Andrews

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| Last updated 

Great White Sharks Bite Chunks Out Of Each Other In Shocking Attack

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

It's no secret that great white sharks aren't the friendliest of animals, but shocking footage has captured just how dangerous they can be and it'll make you never want to dip a toe into the ocean again.

National Geographic WILD's new show, titled Cannibal Sharks premiering next week, looks into the reports of apex predators preying on their own kind.

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And incredibly rare footage shows two great white sharks lunging at one another in a frenzied attack, which is almost unbelievable to watch.

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Shockingly, 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."

Credit: SWNS
Credit: SWNS

A 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.

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More and more mutilated shark carcasses are being pulled out of the ocean around Australia's Gold Coast.

Professor Meekan believes it is all down to measures to keep hungry predators away from swimmers.

As part of the Gold Coast's safety measures to protect vacationers and locals, nets and bated hook lines are deployed to keep the animals away from beaches.

However, hooked sharks send out distress signals, which the professor believes are picked up by rival sharks who fancy an easy meal.

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Credit: SWNS
Credit: SWNS

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

''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."

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Cannibalism among sharks isn't new, as research shows that the animals have been eating each other for millennia.

Experts discovered that fossilised poo, taken from the prehistoric orthacanthus (a shark that swam the oceans 300m million years ago), contained fossilised baby shark teeth.

Credit: SWNS
Credit: SWNS

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

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White, tiger and hammerhead sharks all have gained a reputation for eating other sharks, according to experts.

And one tiny shark, known as the cookie cutter, is one of the most successful cannibal sharks of all time, preying on everything from tuna to great white sharks.

*Shudders*

Cannibal Sharks airs on National Geographic WILD on Monday, 15th July at 8pm

Topics: Life News, Animal, Real

Rachel Andrews
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