Amazing Footage.............

[borninthesignofwater]

I've heard that Great Whites will attack things they normally wouldn't when there is the pressure of a competitor around. The attack by both sharks may have been less of a coordinated thing than it was the sharks doing the equivalent of "Me First!" Sharks can get territorial if they percieve a threat to a potential meal.

That surfer was danged lucky though!

 

[lindsayjp]

Thanks for the link... great footage.... I can't wait to show my surfing friends!
This is one of my favorite topics! I work at an aquarium in San Francisco and spend a great deal of time trying to educate the general population on the true nature of sharks. Now I know that you all are more versed in the ocean world, so I'll give the skinny version, just to address of couple of the questions showing up here.
There are a few things going on in this attack, which makes it interesting and reveals a bit about the white sharks' nature (and why they tend to attack surfers instead of divers...thank god.
They have been finding that certain white sharks, dependent on region, do hunt in packs. This is somewhat similar to the orca hunting behavior, however the white sharks behavior have not been documented nearly as much. Therefore I'm not sure if it was the pressure of competition that got the sharks to attack the surfer or the group attack strategy. In any cass, I think the main reason for the attack was most likely was a case of mistaken identity; because of the surfers location at the surface of the water and the speed/ease with which he was traveling. These factors are classic characteristics of seals, the main source of food for the white shark.
Something else that I have found that puts divers in a different realm than surfers is our bubbles. In my experience the exhaled bubbles a diver gives off tends to repell the sharks. I imagine this is due to the forgien nature of the bubbles in the water colomn, or just mearly the sound they don't like.
If anyone has any additional comments or questions (or corrections) keep 'em coming...

 

[saildiver]

Agree Bigsage. How often does a great white strike and wound a seal and then swim away? Not very often I bet. But biting into a surfboard/human must register to their senses as something quite different than a seal (which they've been eating all their lives). I bet they are pretty confused at that point. Maybe they have a hunting technique that lets the prey bleed for a while which would give someone time to get away.

While diving under surfers with sharks around me -I'm amazed at how much a surfer resembles a seal or sealion-but I can also imagine the shock the shark must feel when it hits that hard surfboard instead of a soft seal body-and I'm sure even a shark can tell that surfboards are junkfood and wouldn't want to eat them regularly. When great whites attack seals they will often strike with a fatal bite ,then circle till the seal stops struggling,then finish it off. Surfers simply are not what sharks intend to eat most of the time-they are accidental victims for the most part, I suspect,or there would be far fewer survivors of great white attacks- because if they liked eating us-they'd finish the job too...Peace...Saildiver