It was a slippery escape.
A desperate seal went airborne Monday in the waters off Cape Cod to try to get away from a great white shark.
Shark researchers caught it all on camera.
“White Shark 0, Seal 1” was the title of the video filmed by Greg Skomal, a shark expert for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
The video showed the seal leaping from emerald-green water into the air, with the shark close behind. The seal twists his body and smacks the shark with his tail.
Researchers from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and the state make twice-weekly trips to the waters off Chatham to document great whites.
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“The escape was incredible to witness. We’ve seen three predations over the last two years and this was a first — to watch a white shark leap from the water in an attempt to grab a grey seal. The seal won that battle but shortly after the same shark successfully consumed a different seal further offshore,” Cynthia Wigren, president of the conservancy, said in a statement.
The conservancy posted a photo on its Twitter feed of blood in the water and a dark shape beneath, saying, “The research team witnessed a successful predation (white shark eating a seal) today.”
Also Monday, the researchers tagged two sharks.
Researchers have been sighting a number of sharks on their research trips near the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham, which is on the outer elbow of Cape Cod.