Fishermen's 'insane' encounter with 'pregnant' great white shark off Aussie coast
The incredible footage was captured off Queensland's Sunshine Coast on Sunday, with two fishermen in disbelief at their luck.
Incredible footage has emerged of the moment an enormous great white shark approached a group of fishermen in a boat, swimming right up to the rocking little tinnie and boldly nudging it with its snout.
The footage was captured off the coast of Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, with vision showing the two fishermen in absolute shock after the encounter. Fisherman Jayden Grace can be heard in the footage screaming expletives, in disbelief at their luck at coming so close to the animal — believed to have measured in at a whopping five metres.
Due to its mammoth size, some online responded believing it was pregnant. "Woah. Big white. Definitely looks pregnant. What an incredible experience," one person wrote. "Absolute insanity," said another.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Chris Pepin-Neff from The University of Sydney said while it's impossible to tell based on the footage alone if the shark was in fact carrying young, he'd never seen one quite that size.
Fishermen in awe as enormous great white nudges tinnie
He said that while it's important to note female great whites are generally bigger than males, "this is the most rotund female great white shark that I've seen."
In the footage, the fishermen's excitement can be heard throughout the 45-second clip. "Holy, that is huge," Grace says as the animal is first spotted in the water. "He’s not interested in him [a fish on a line], I think he’s more interested in the boat."
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It then swims closer toward the pair, opening its mouth to get a sense of what lay in front of it.
"Wow, wow, wow, he just bit my boat. He just bit my boat," Grace exclaims. "I think it’s time to leave."
Vision of the boat back on shore showed large teeth marks the huge animal left. "Well that’s what the great white did to my boat," Grace says. "Holy f—k. He f—ing smashed me c—. Dang".
While the video may seem horrifying to some, experts say it's important to note that sharks have well-developed touch receptors in their skin, located all over their body, including on their heads.
They also have taste receptors on the tongue, in the lining of the mouth, and in the pharynx and will reject items they find distasteful, which is exactly what is seen in the footage.
Watch the footage:
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