One of the world’s deadliest predators, the Great White Shark snags unsuspecting seals in the blink of an eye with a swift leap and deadly bite.
But this one added a flourish to his hunting technique, displaying incredible power with an impressive backflip in the waters off Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa.
The jaw-dropping moment stunned thrill seekers watching from a catamaran that had deployed a dummy seal in an attempt to lure the shark to them.
Acrobatic: This great white shark displayed incredible power with an impressive backflip in the waters off Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa.
Heartwarming: The jaw-dropping moment stunned thrill seekers watching from a catamaran that had deployed a dummy seal in an attempt to lure the shark to them.
The hungry shark jumped out of the water and bit into the catamaran’s dummy seal before disappearing into the waves.
Yirui Heng, from Singapore, photographed the action, which lasted just a few seconds.
The 26-year-old vet said: “It was impressive to see a great white shark do a backflip out of the water.”
“When the shark’s nose first broke the surface of the water, I was in complete disbelief.
“Luckily, my instinct to press the shutter came fast enough to catch the shark in flight, completely out of the water.
“It happened in a matter of seconds, and the loud, excited cheers from the ship must have lasted for several minutes afterward.”
Yirui waited 15 minutes to catch a glimpse of the shark, which was attracted to the catamaran by a fiberglass seal lure, used by tour operators to increase the chances of shark sightings.
Fooled: The hungry shark jumped out of the water and bit into the catamaran’s dummy seal before disappearing into the waves.
Yirui said: ‘This was my first encounter with a great white shark. I feel very lucky to have gone out to sea that day. The shark was only 10 meters from the boat.
“I feel like humans often don’t understand sharks and, in fact, they are curious, friendly and fantastic creatures to watch.”
During shark season in South Africa, which is between April and October, the great white shark has been known to feed on Cape Fur Seals found off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa.
There are many other sharks that roam the South African seas, including the blue shark, the mako shark, and the Sevengill shark.
