A stunning footage was captured of South Australia’s Neptune Islands showing what may be the world’s most battered great white shark.
The footage, posted to the Sea Dragon Films YouTube channel in January, shows a great white shark swimming beside underwater photographer Dean Spraakman, its fins, gills, mouth and body covered in scratches.
Mr Spraakman said that he has never seen a great white in such poor condition before and while he originally shout the marine creature was in a lot of pain, it was actually extremely calm and gentle in its demeanour.
According to Mr Spraakman, “Nobody has seen a shark so healthy before,” he told The Sun.
“He was calm, and came within arms reach of me. Sometimes, when you have a shark like this, they will just come to you and stare you in the eyes, and just take a look at you.
The shark is seen swimming with other small fish in video footage taken by Mr Spraakman, and its skin has been ripped at places. There are also bite marks on the flank.
Although his team thought that injuries might have been caused by boat propellers, experts think the actual cause was scrapping with sharks.
Video footage has been released of the Neptune Islands, South Australia’s greatest white shark.
National Geographic’s Professor Yannis Papastamatiou said that the male shark appeared to have been involved in several fights.
According to him, although males tend to be scarred more from their mating behaviors, females can still get bit by sharks during dominance interactions. A larger shark could want a smaller one and threaten the smaller with a non fatal warning bite.
One possibility is that the unusual scarring in the face could be caused by seals, the shark’s prey.
This shark often has scratches and wounds that are the result of scraps or hunting with other sharks.
The world’s largest predatory fish, great white sharks, is known for its long torpedo-shaped body that allows them to swim at 56 km/h underwater in very short bursts.
Based on CSIRO figures from 2018, there are only 5,500 great whites left on Australia’s eastern coast line.
According to CSIRO research: “White sharks are found on the shores, shelves, and continental slopes of Australia. These waters extend from the Montebello Islands (north-western Western Australia), south to as far north as the coast as at least central Queensland. This includes Tasmanian waters.”