Watch One Great White Photobomb Another in Outrageous Double Breach Video

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Written by Sharon Parry

Updated: November 10, 2023

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Discover How Long Do Great White Sharks Live! Cover Image
© iStock.com/Peter_Nile

There are not just one but two spectacular great white sharks in this stunning video footage captured by fisherman Remo Sabatini in 2015 in Mossel Bay, South Africa. You get to see the ferocity of these magnificent sea creatures close up! Great Whites are the largest predatory fish on the planet and are apex predators so they do not have to fear any other creatures in the sea — apart from the most ambitious orca! They have cruised around the oceans of our planet for nearly 20 million years. Sadly, their numbers are now decreasing because their natural hunting habitats are under threat from human activity.

great white shark leaping out of water

Breaching is a hunting tactic that leverages a great white’s impressive physical strength and size to stun a victim.

©Alexyz3d/Shutterstock.com

Adult great whites can grow to 15 feet in length, have an average life span of 40 to 70 years, and spend most of their time searching for food. They are perfect killing machines using speed, aggression, and very sharp teeth to surprise their prey and kill it before swallowing it whole. Sharks will eat a variety of animals including bony fish, seals, rays, squid, dolphins, and small whales.

Great whites have excellent eyesight and can spot potential prey at some distance. Then, they use their powerful swimming muscles and streamlined shape to sneak up on their unsuspecting victim. But the most impressive weapon is their ability to hurtle towards the surface as they are directly under their prey and breach the surface of the water. A breach is where they hurl themselves out of the water and stun their victim.

Do Sharks Normally Breach?

A breaching great white is one of the most spectacular sights of the ocean. The shark uses their muscular tail to produce tremendous acceleration and once in the air, they perform a cartwheel because most of its weight is concentrated near its head. These sharks use breaching as a highly effective hunting tactic.

However, breaching is not common among many species and only a few do it. Having said that, shark jumping is not the same as for dolphins. While dolphins do it for fun and more frequently, sharks do it occasionally and often to locate prey. Sharks may also breach when they feel threatened by nearby boats or divers who get too close.

Sharks can achieve up to four seconds of hang time which, considering that they can weigh up to 7,300 pounds, is absolutely amazing! But it is still too short to be captured on video very often so we are lucky to see it in this video.

Great white sharks breach in order to catch fast-moving prey like seals.

©Martin Prochazkacz/Shutterstock.com

The truly amazing feature of this footage is that there are two great whites involved. Great white sharks are known as solitary hunters and you usually only see two together when mating or if there is a particularly tasty carcass that they both want a bite of. In this footage, one has taken the bait on the boat near the camera and gives us a close-up view of their deadly triangular, serrated teeth. Each tooth can grow to up to 6 cm in length. As our attention is focused on the foreground, a second shark hurls itself out of the water and steals the limelight. In a feat of perfect synchronization, as the second shark slams back into the water, the first shark releases its ferocious grip on the bait and disappears beneath the surface of the water. It almost seems a little put out that its big moment has been photobombed by its pal!


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About the Author

Dr Sharon Parry is a writer at A-Z animals where her primary focus is on dogs, animal behavior, and research. Sharon holds a PhD from Leeds University, UK which she earned in 1998 and has been working as a science writer for the last 15 years. A resident of Wales, UK, Sharon loves taking care of her spaniel named Dexter and hiking around coastlines and mountains.

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