This amazing video of a shark breaching spectacularly out of the water begins with a man on a boat. He’s waiting for sharks to come after the decoys that he’s trailed so that he can observe and record their breaching behavior. Sharks do this in certain parts of the world and situations to catch their unsuspecting prey by surprise. Fortunately, this shark did not disappoint. Jumping out of the water, a Great White Shark lunged after the seal decoy at the end of the line. Because he was so intent on getting his prey, the shark’s entire body moved and wriggled as he leaped out of the water. “What a breach!” the man yelled. The shark was 10 feet long. He had powerful muscles and jaws. A male shark, this animal is the apex predator of the seas. When it went after the seal decoy, it had no problem getting its entire body out of the water and making a spectacular splash as it went back to its ocean home. “In the air, you can see it twisting and turning as if it is trying to dismember its prey,” said the researcher from the boat. And that is likely exactly what the shark had in mind when it went after what it believed was a tasty seal. Scientists tow decoys like these behind small research boats to learn more about sharks’ behavior. This team is located at Seal Rock just off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. This is a common place for sharks to breach when they go after seals. Teams of researchers try to get recordings of the most impressive breaches. Chris Fallows, the man in this video, gets a 15-foot jump on video, “the ultimate Air Jaws breach.”
Is This Normal Behavior?
When a great white shark is pursuing a seal, or possible other type of prey, it can swim at speeds up to 40 mph, and will typically fly up to 10 feet in the air–an acrobatic feat called breaching. When it hurls itself at a seal, the goal is to hit the animal so hard that it is incapacitated. Studies have suggested that the success rate of this hunting practice for great white sharks is almost 50%. However, it causes the shark to exert a massive amount of energy, so it is not common to witness. Ironically, there’s another reason you’d be lucky to see a shark breach. Researchers have found that the one place on earth where breaching is most common is off the coast of South Africa. In False Bay, 45 minutes from Cape Town, there’s an island called Seal Island. This place is home to 64,000 fur seals. Fur seals are prime prey for these sharks because they are just small enough not to cause the shark injury while breaching, but are large enough for the shark to grab in its jaws. There’s also a steep drop-off next to the island, so sharks can get close without being detected. So is breaching normal shark behavior? It is off the coast of South Africa, at least. But a 15 foot leap into the air? That’s a rare sight to see indeed!
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