4531652

11-07-09

Ardea (wildlife+nature)

Rights managed

CB-286 Great White Shark - breaching South Africa Carcharodon carcharias Information from photographer: Seal Island is the only place in the world where the sharks regularly breach out of the water to attack their prey, seals. Natural predation is very difficult to photograph as you don't know where it will occur and as most breaches last for less than one second it is virtually impossible to shoot. Therefore a decoy seal made of neoprene is trailed from the back of a boat, although this can only be done 1 or 2 times as one does not want the sharks to figure out that it is not a real seal. As a photographer you have to sit or lie at the back of the boat and wait for the shark to hit the decoy, this is harder than it sounds as the sea is often rough and you could tow for a long time without getting "a knock" as they say in South Africa. If you take your camera from your face for one second you could miss it! It was said to be the largest shark that had been seen breaching that year and was estimated to be 17-18ft long and the largest ones approach a ton in weight. Chris Brunskill All images are copyright protected and remain the property of Ardea London Ltd. Images must be credited: Photographer Name / ardea.com

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