TikTok video captures 12ft shark attack on camera

Shark
(Image credit: Air Jaws: Going for Gold / Discovery)

As one of the most incredible (and sadly misunderstood) creatures on the ocean, the shark is a subject of awe around the world. And it's easy to see why when they're caught on camera! A video shot by Discovery was recently posted on the channel's official TikTok account, showing a shark making an attack on a decoy set up by the film crew. 

'Zola', the great white shark, is 12ft long and was apparently "the biggest shark in the area right now". Zola launches itself fully out of the water, making a "graceful, efficient attack" on the decoy that proves successful.

• Read more: Best waterproof cameras

The Discovery channel's TikTok posted this video as part of Shark Week. The clip was originally from 'Air Jaws: Going for Gold', where a team of experts led by wildlife photographer Chris Fallows bait the area's great white shark population into breaching the water's surface. 

@discovery

A graceful efficient attack 🚀🦈 ##AirJaws ##SharkWeek ##shark ##athlete

♬ original sound - Discovery

The Air Jaws team includes shark scientist Enrico Gennari, marine biologist Alison Towner and photographer Dickie Chivell. In order to bait the sharks into breaching the ocean surface, the team mimic their favorite prey – seals. The team set up a rubber seal that trails behind their boat, training their cameras on the decoy in order to capture the jaw-dropping moments that happen when the sharks come to the surface.

Shark Week might be over now, but you can still experience all the fun of watching these incredible creatures on the Discovery TikTok channel. Alternatively, check out some of the best pictures from 21 years of Air Jaws on the Discovery website (some regions may not be able to access this site). 

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Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.