“She just rocketed through and then it was over,” says Nat Geo filmmaker on first-ever underwater camera footage of great white shark ripping prey from fishing line at Cape Cod
Brian Skerry, the renowned National Geographic filmmaker, captured the first-ever footage of underwater great white depredation in Cape Cod, Massachusetts where experts say flourishing seal populations have attracted more sharks
A National Geographic filmmaker, Brian Skerry, has managed to capture historic underwater footage of a great white shark stealing a fish hook from a fishing line off the coast of Cape Cod. This is the first time such behavior has been documented beneath the waves, according to National Geographic. Skerry, a native of Massachusetts, had been attempting to capture the footage for several days earlier in the year, but it wasn't until one sudden moment that he managed to record the event.
In the brief, slow-motion video, a juvenile female great white shark is seen swiftly snatching a hooked striped bass off the fishing line.
Skerry explained that the entire process took just a second, stating, "It was so sudden, it wasn't even a second. She just rocketed through and then it was over." He used a custom-designed camera setup to ensure the fishing lure remained visible in the frame. The footage was taken at Cape Cod in the Atlantic Ocean, an area that has become a hotspot for great white sharks due to the increasing population of gray seals in the region.
The gray seal population has been rebounding since the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 helped restore their numbers, with an estimated 30,000 individuals living on Cape Cod by 2017.
Skerry's goal in filming this footage was to provide insight into the presence of a healthy, recovering population of large predatory sharks in Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine.
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