{"id":621530,"date":"2026-10-05T18:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621530\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:36:10","slug":"she-just-rocketed-through-and-then-it-was-over-says-nat-geo-filmmaker-on-first-ever-underwater-camera-footage-of-great-white-shark-ripping-prey-from-fishing-line-at-cape-cod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621530\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShe just rocketed through and then it was over,\u201d says Nat Geo filmmaker on first-ever underwater camera footage of great white shark ripping prey from fishing line at Cape Cod"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"elk-ac012d3e-c0ab-11f1-ad18-7df73a2a94cf\">A National Geographic filmmaker has captured footage clearly showing great white shark depredation \u2013 the act of stealing a fish hook from a fishing line \u2013 beneath the waves.<\/p>\n<p>While great white depredation has previously been observed from the surface, according to National Geographic, this is the first time a recording has been made of the behavior below water.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ac012d3e-c0ab-11f1-ad18-7df73a2a94cf-2\">The footage was captured by<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/brianskerry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/brianskerry.com\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"photography\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"> Brian Skerry<\/a>, a renowned whale and shark filmmaker, at Cape Cod, on the Atlantic Coast of Massachusetts, US.<\/p>\n<p>According to National Geographic, Skerry, a native of Massachusetts, had been trying to capture the footage for several days earlier this year, when the moment finally struck. \u201cIt was so sudden, it wasn\u2019t even a second. She just rocketed through and then it was over,\u201d he told<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/animals\/article\/great-white-shark-behavior-depredation-cape-cod-fish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/animals\/article\/great-white-shark-behavior-depredation-cape-cod-fish\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"photography\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"> the publication<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the split-second footage, which, according to Skerry, was captured in slow motion, we see a juvenile female great white shark snagging hooked striped bass at lightning speed. Skerry also explained that he used a custom-designed camera setup that ensured the fishing lure stayed in the camera&#8217;s frame.<\/p>\n<p>            You may like<\/p>\n<p>Nat Geo catches rare great white shark moment on camera &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791225370_718_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Nat Geo catches rare great white shark moment on camera - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-FEqVBEUN8Ws\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FEqVBEUN8Ws\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FEqVBEUN8Ws\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"photography\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ac012f64-c0ab-11f1-81a3-e94415c79f87\">Above: watch the moment a juvenile female great white sharks rips the striped bass off the fishing line <\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ac013004-c0ab-11f1-ba0d-1d4a04ed0712\">According to<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/remarkable-rebound-the-great-white-sharks-of-cape-cod1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/remarkable-rebound-the-great-white-sharks-of-cape-cod1\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"photography\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"> Scientific American<\/a>, great white populations have \u201csurged\u201d off the coast of Cape Cod in recent years, with the area now considered the first-ever white shark \u201chotspot\u201d in the North Atlantic. The publication has explained that sharks are convening on the Cape because the gray seal population there is rebounding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p>By the 1960s, New England seal populations had been largely culled by commercial fishermen. However, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 gradually restored seal numbers in the region, with an estimated 30,000 individuals on Cape Cod by 2017.<\/p>\n<p>According to Scientific American, seals are a favorite fat-rich prey for white sharks as the fish make their annual northern migration, typically arriving on Cape Cod between mid-May and late June as the coastal water warms up.<\/p>\n<p>Skerry told National Geographic that he recorded the footage to help people understand that Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine have a \u201chealthy, recovering\u201d population of large, predatory sharks.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-you-might-also-like\"\/>You might also like\u2026<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ac013144-c0ab-11f1-ac0b-39bac3254504\">Here\u2019s our pick of the<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalcameraworld.com\/buying-guides\/best-underwater-housings-for-cameras-and-phones\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.digitalcameraworld.com\/buying-guides\/best-underwater-housings-for-cameras-and-phones\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"photography\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.digitalcameraworld.com\/buying-guides\/best-underwater-housings-for-cameras-and-phones\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> best underwater housings for cameras and phones<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A National Geographic filmmaker has captured footage clearly showing great white shark depredation \u2013 the act of stealing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-621530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}