A great white shark was spotted swimming beneath surfers in South Africa.
Chilling drone footage that is being widely circulated online shows a great white shark swimming beneath unsuspecting surfers in South Africa. Sea Rescue South Africa (NSRI), a non-profit organisation, warned beachgoers to be careful while releasing the footage on social media Wednesday. They said that reported sightings and close encounters with great white sharks had increased.
"NSRI are appealing to bathers, paddlers, body borders and surfers to be cautious along the Southern Cape coastline and the Eastern Cape coastline," the organisation said in a statement released alongside the video. They attributed the increase in shark sightings to "normal aggregation" of these predators to take advantage of prey like seals and fish close to the shore.
The drone footage released by NSRI shows the shark in close proximity to surfers at Plettenberg Bay. The video, recorded on Tuesday, shows the great white shark swimming beneath a group of oblivious surfers.
"Due to a high number of reported White Shark sightings and close encounters, NSRI are appealing to the public exercise caution along the Southern Cape coastline," NSRI wrote while sharing the video.
Since being posted on the microblogging platform, the hair-raising footage has collected over 22,000 views and a ton of shocked comments.
"The size of this shark... glad the paddlers are safe," wrote one person in the comments section.
"Too close for comfort," another said.
"The behaviour seen in this drone footage shows that the shark is aware of the surfers and is investigating the surfers," Sarah Waries of City of Cape Town (CoCT) Shark Spotters programme told NSRI. "It is important for people to remember that white sharks are naturally inquisitive apex predators and that although shark bites are rare, water users must understand the inherent risk associated with sharing the ocean with these animals and change their behaviour accordingly to avoid encountering sharks."
According to the Florida Museum shark attack database, there were 140 reported shark attacks around the world in 2019, out of which 64 were unprovoked.
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