'Mind-blowing' moment: Whale-watching tour spots white shark feeding off Santa Barbara coast

A whale-watching tour obtained the picture alternative of a lifetime after they noticed a uncommon white shark feeding from an elephant seal about 30 miles west of Santa Barbara.

The group of about 50 individuals have been aboard the Condor Categorical, which conducts whale watching excursions day by day by way of the Santa Barbara Channel, based on Capt. Dave Beezer, who has been working for the corporate for almost 20 years.

On Aug. 30, the group noticed the floating carcass of a lifeless elephant seal about 14 miles off the coast of Gaviota and Beezer knew to stay round within the space, he mentioned. The seal’s head was lacking so he thought a predator may very well be concerned. Quickly after, a 16-foot grownup white shark emerged from the water and began feeding on the carcass.

“It was digging its jaws into the aspect of the seal and taking out massive chunks after which it will exit of sight,” he mentioned.

White sharks, generally referred to as nice white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), are the species featured within the 1975 traditional movie “Jaws.” The northeastern Pacific white shark inhabitants is on the rise and never liable to changing into endangered in U.S. waters, based on the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The shark circled the boat and surfaced about 4 or 5 occasions to take a chew out of the seal. Robert Perry, who has been photographing the ocean for the reason that late Nineteen Sixties, was additionally onboard, performing because the Condor Categorical’ employees photographer. The one time he’s ever taken pictures of white sharks was after they have been swimming round or underneath a lifeless whale in order that they weren’t totally seen.

Perry managed to seize a number of photos of the white shark feeding.

“It was fully mind-blowing and a uncommon alternative,” Perry added. “It was the shot of a lifetime.”

Beezer mentioned he’s seen a white shark feed about 4 or 5 occasions in his lifetime. He emphasised the significance of the white shark to the area. As a result of San Miguel Island serves as a breeding floor for seals, the world has a number of the largest seal populations on this planet. White sharks maintain a few of these populations in verify, he mentioned.

“It’s not this senseless, killing machine that we should always all be frightened of,” he added. “It’s a calculating predator that performs an necessary position within the ocean ecosystem.”