Caught on camera: Massive shark sightings

We have a love-hate relationship with sharks. While some quarters are mortified at the thought of these creatures appearing on the dinner table, others are terrified at the sight of these massive fish.

It is no wonder that numerous movies have attempted to prey on our inhibitions and fear of sharks, such as the 1975 American thriller film classic Jaws by Steven Spielberg.

Two reports were circulating on social media recently about massive shark sightings - one was a tiger shark measuring over 4 meters in length while the other was the infamous great white shark reaching over 6 meters long.

The tiger shark was caught off the coast of south-eastern Australia near New South Wales, The Northern Star reported, when a fisherman was hauling in a hammerhead shark onboard his ship. The opportunistic tiger shark decided that the hammerhead shark was a meal that proved to be fatalistic, and the tiger shark was caught instead.

The great white shark had a more fortunate fate. She was caught on camera in the waters off the Mexican Coast, and is believed to be 50-years-old.

The video was posted on shark researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla's Facebook page, garnering over two million views.

"When I saw Deep Blue for the first time, there was just one thought in my mind: Hope," Padilla wrote on his SlideShare page.

"A shark of that size is at least 50 years old and that tells me protection and conservation efforts are really working.

"Deep Blue has been spared from longlines and the inherent dangers of being in the wild, and somehow she has found her way in the vast ocean."

Photos 1 and 2 show the tiger shark, while photos 3 - 12 are of the great white shark. The rest of the photos are sightings of strange creatures in Singapore and around the world.

grongloh@sph.com.sg

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