See Inside A Tiger Shark's Mouth As It Gobbles A GoPro

Willy Volk, 'Tiger Shark' via Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

It’s a pretty exhilarating feeling diving with sharks. As they curiously and elegantly glide by you, there’s that overwhelming sense of both fear and respect. Until they decide that a piece of your equipment is worth a nibble. And by nibble I mean envelop the whole darn thing in its whopping great, razor-sharp teeth lined mouth. But this diver’s GoPro camera survived to tell us the tale, and it’s pretty awesome to see inside the tiger shark’s mouth, even if it is only for a fleeting moment. You can even see the shark’s eyes roll back as it goes for the camera.



What’s particularly interesting is that the shark at first seems very disinterested in the equipment, but last minute he/she suddenly changes direction and ambushes the camera. While they may be highly evolved predators, behavioral observations have suggested that tiger sharks can be pretty lazy. Unlike some more swift and agile species, such as the mako shark, tiger sharks aren’t that maneuverable, and often have to “rely on surprise to catch things” according to marine biologist Mike Heithaus.

It may have come as an initial surprise to the unsuspecting diver, but the curious being gave up the camera pretty swiftly and carried on with his/her day, leaving the diver unscathed (as far as we’re aware) but probably with a racing heart.


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