CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Massachusetts scientists are buzzing after a stunning video caught two great white sharks biting each other off the coast of Chatham.
The footage, captured by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, shows a smaller great white making contact with a larger great white, and the bigger shark is the one that winds up swimming away.
Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said the actions of the sharks are clear, but the intent is not.
“No doubt in our mind that these sharks are biting each other, it could be aggression it could be a prelude to mating…I don’t know,” Skomal said. “it’s either some level of aggression or perhaps one shark was trying to mate with the other. So we’re looking at the video trying to get a sense of the size of these animals, the sex of these animals, but just to see these 2 sharks interact is pretty unusual for us.”
Skomal said interactions like this are not uncommon between sharks, but the footage leaves marine biologists with new questions.
“The fact that the smaller shark was the aggressor is very surprising to us. We typically find the larger shark displaces the smaller ones but it clearly spooked the larger shark away, and we’re kinda wondering why, what generated that,” Skomal said. “Fascinating for us, we see the bite marks, now we’re actually getting observations of what might be happening.”
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