The great white shark is known for its ferocity, brutality, and rapid predation, but it's rare to see images that truly reveal the secrets of how they hunt. Freelance photographer David Jenkins has achieved this.
The slender seal struggles to escape, hoping not to become the great white shark’s lunch.
When a great white shark attacks its prey, it suddenly surges out of the water with its jaws wide open. Though this vicious predator’s teeth are only a few inches long, they are extremely sharp. A South African seal encountered one and had to fight desperately for its life. This is the moment just before the seal was hunted, captured in these dramatic images taken in the waters around Seal Island near Cape Town, South Africa. Photographer David Jenkins said, “I’ve traveled to many places in the world, but this is the first time I’ve seen something so incredible. It’s hard to believe it’s real unless you see it with your own eyes.”
These astonishing images show the lengths to which South African seals go to survive. They live in the waters around Seal Island in False Bay, Cape Town, where about 12,000 seal pups are born every November and December. It took this wildlife photographer three years to capture these photos, which vividly illustrate why the great white shark is regarded as the world’s most precisely skilled predator.
David, 39, said, “I’ve traveled all over the world, and this is the first time I’ve seen a great white shark hunting a seal. It was terrifying. It’s hard to believe unless you see it with your own eyes. It really shows the shark’s hunting ability and agility. When a great white shark suddenly bursts out of the water toward the camera, it’s absolutely heart-stopping.”
David said, “At this time of year, there can be between 30 to 50 great white sharks around. If you’re lucky, you might see more than five in your field of view at once. Their hunting success rate is very high, almost 50%. From the moment a great white shark bursts out of the water until it dives back in takes less than a second. If you look the wrong way or blink, you’ll only see the splash, not the shark itself.”
David is a freelance photographer and also works with the African Lion and Environmental Research Trust in Zimbabwe. He first witnessed a great white shark’s full hunting sequence in 2009 and was immediately captivated by the scene. Since then, he has returned to Seal Island every year to study the relationship between predators and their prey.
He said, “If a great white shark catches a seal in an instant, you’re struck by how fast the whole process happens, and you’re amazed by its hunting ability, speed, and movement in the water. But as with any life-or-death struggle in nature, if the great white shark misses its first strike, it becomes much harder to observe the interaction between predator and prey. Meanwhile, the seal has a good chance of escaping.”
Great white sharks come to Seal Island to feed on seals. Around 65,000 seals live there. When these seals leave the island to forage at sea, they gather on a shallow reef. They move in groups, making it difficult for a single great white shark to target one. But the clever sharks patrol the underwater edges of the island. Once they spot a straggler or a seal returning alone from feeding, they launch a lightning-fast attack from the water. The most intense battles between predator and prey often take place on the surface.
David said, “The great white shark tries to grab the seal in its jaws on the first strike. Sometimes, such as when the weather is clear, the sea is calm, or when the water is rough, the shark’s success rate is high. Also, low visibility is very bad for the South African seals, as it increases the shark’s chances. Once, I saw a seal evade a great white shark for five minutes, and eventually, the exhausted shark had to give up. But the seal had only gone 20 meters when it was caught by another shark that heard the commotion. Another time, I watched a seal fight off three great white sharks, each for about five minutes, and eventually make it back to the island. Although seal pups may be spotted quickly by sharks, they can use their innate survival skills to avoid becoming victims.”
Great white sharks are demonized in films and media reports, but David points out that few reports tell how sharks face dangers in everyday life, such as shark nets. He said, “There are also issues caused by recreational fishing, speedboats, and highly invasive research. As smaller sharks and fish that play important roles in the great white shark’s food chain are overfished, their food sources have become a problem, leading to a gradual decline in shark numbers. Although the great white shark may be the most famous animal in the ocean, there are still misconceptions about them that need correcting. No one knows exactly how, when, or where they reproduce, and it’s rare to see young great white sharks in the water. If sharks disappear, the ecosystem will become unbalanced, and the intricate natural relationship between predator and prey will be disrupted.”