Unsettling video shows what it’s like when a hungry mako shark decides to bite you
The terrifying final view marine life get before going down a shark’s throat was caught on video by a naturalist, and it’s giving people the willies on social media.
It starts with an intimidating mako shark swimming nonchalantly past the camera — then the video turns frightening and dangerous.
The shark turns its head to the camera, opens its jaws wide and exposes not only dozens of jagged teeth, but a view straight down its throat.
Rhode Island-based cinematographer Joe Romeiro shared the video in a Feb. 8 Facebook post that referred to the mako as “a true dragon.”
Other researchers have shared the post, with the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at Arizona State University calling it “amazing video of a monster mako” that was near the surface.
“Coming in hot is an understatement! It’s so incredible to see this speed demon up close like this!” researcher James Sulikowski posted on Facebook.
Romeiro identified the mako as a 12-foot female, and he said it bumped into him twice to show who was “completely in charge.”
“Not many have seen one and even fewer have swam with one: ‘A Dragon’,” Romeiro wrote on Facebook.
“Most mako sharks are pretty sensitive to scuba (divers). Maybe it’s sound, possibly the presence of something unfamiliar, a possible competitor or mating season,” he continued. “Reality is they are more social than we completely understand.”
Romeiro’s 333 Productions company declined to reveal the location of where the video was filmed, but referred to it as a “secret world of giants” where makos prey on seals and sea lions.
“On this one instance this huge #MakoShark swam around me bumping me more than likely to get out of my line of sight and then came up from directly below me to investigate,” he posted. “She was huge and a very curious cheeky shark.”
Romeiro has said in a Feb. 5 Facebook post that some sharks, including great whites, are “stimulated by fast and erratic movements.” They are also cautious and careful creatures, given to “mouthing things and bumping before biting,” he posted.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 8:41 AM with the headline "Unsettling video shows what it’s like when a hungry mako shark decides to bite you."