Horrifying moment a 15ft great white shark attacks a seal just yards from a whale watching boat leaving tourists screaming as sea turns red with blood
- Video shows a great white shark attacking a seal as tourists watch in shock
- The water off New Brunswick, Canada, is seen turning red as the seal thrashes
- It’s the third time that crews on the boat have seen seals being attacked
- The tour company posted the video that received more than 25,000 views
Tourists were left screaming after a 15ft great white shark attacked a seal just yards from their whale-watching boat, turning the sea red with blood.
Video footage captured by the boat’s captain Theophilos Tsagkaris shows the predator mauling its prey off the Green’s Point Lighthouse in New Brunswick, Canada.
Tour organizer Jolly Breeze Tall Ship posted the video to their Facebook page, and said that it was the third time they had spotted a seal being attack by a shark – including two incidents in a two-week span.
A seal is mauled by a great white shark off New Brunswick, Canada as a tour boat watches
Footage of the attack has been seen more than 26,000 times since it was posted online by the tour operator.
Nicole Leavitt-Kennedy, a marine biologist for Island Quest Whale Watching, told CTV: ‘They did have a large 12-15-foot great white shark that was essentially eating a seal off of one of our seal rocks.’
She explained that there are several species of shark in the area, including great whites, basking sharks and blue sharks.
And while seeing attacks on seals and other animals isn’t an everyday occurrence, she says they aren’t a rarity.
She added: ‘I’m not going to say they’re as common as you would see them every time you go out on the ocean – but they are there.’
A calmer moment for a tour boat that saw a seal attacked by a great white shark
Tourist Carrie Wynn Coan wrote on the Facebook thread that she was on the boat right before this attack.
She said: ‘We watched these same seals, poor thing! There have been several great white attacks on seals in this area. No swimming!’