Shark Week Kicks Off With Slow Motion Shots of Jumping, Terrifying Sharks
The greatest week of the entire year kicked off tonight with Ultimate Air Jaws, which studies why sharks breach the surface of the water while hunting seals, with some amazing slow motion shots. Four nightmare-inducing videos inside.
#4: Seal Decoy gets away
[There was a video here]
Shark attacks happen at such high speeds that scientists think that sharks use a gush of water from the back of their mouth to spit out an object that isn't food. This includes decoy seals and people.
#3: Crazy nature photographer lies belly down on a raft feet away from a breaching shark
[There was a video here]
In order to get as close as possible, and to humor his death wish, the director of photography opted to build a "seal sled" to be dragged behind a boat, mere meters from a seal decoy intended to make a gigantic shark leap out of the water.
#2: A real seal gets pwned
[There was a video here]
Filming for this show took place at two locations in South Africa, one of which was an island only 800 meters offshore from a strip of popular hotels. The vast majority of breaching shark attacks happen there, but there has only been one fatal attack on a human in the past 20 years.
#1: The LeBron James of sharks
[There was a video here]
According to the show, "Seals only have a 50% chance of surviving a hit as strong as this; humans have zero." But even with all of the intense shots of animal kingdom violence, scientists say that this still upholds the theory that Great White Sharks want nothing to do with humans. As if that makes you feel any better.
So... Who wants to go to the beach?