The two predators almost slice each other in half in chilling footage of the attack…

Two rival sharks have been caught mutilating each other in the waters of Queensland’s Gold Coast. The cannibalistic behaviour was documented for the National Geographic series Cannibal Sharks, and depicts the two predators tearing huge chunks of flesh from each other’s torsos, leaving one shark sliced almost in half after the attack.

Elsewhere in the documentary, viewers are shown photographs of washed-up portions of other great white bodies, also presumed to be mutilated by their own kind. The documentary explores the rising instance of shark cannibalism, specifically in Australia, and traces the behaviour all the way to the creature’s infancy. Tiger shark mothers, for instance, produce some six embryos yet only birth two shark pups, with scientists discovering that much of the litter is hunted and eaten once the dominant egg forms teeth and eyes. 

Shark cannibalism is also chalked up to the increased pressure on sharks from humans, who’ve introduced safety precautions like nets and hook lines to prevent attacks on swimmers. Once caught, sharks send out a distress signal that alerts other sharks to their whereabouts, which makes hunting by fellow sharks easier. “This is an enormous shark,” Professor Mark Meekan from the Australian Institute for Marine Science says of the video “it’s 12-feet long but look at the size of that bite, it’s absolutely massive.”

“If I was a betting man, I might even pick another great white shark for that one. These things are apex predators for good reason.”