A giant great white shark has been photographed with a massive bite mark on its body which scientists?believe to have been caused by a mystery beast.?
Jalil Najafov, 40, was diving in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico when he spotted the nearly five metre shark. He was shocked?by the massive bite mark on its side, and was left pondering?as to what could have left such a scar, The Sun reported.?
Jalil, a shark conservationist and filmmaker, said that he had never seen anything like this before.?
¡°I was really surprised as I have never seen anything like this in my life.?This bite mark was so huge on a big shark, and I was like, is that real??I have worked with sharks for many years and have never seen such a big scar before,"?Jalil, who is originally from Azerbaijan, was quoted as saying by The Sun.?
Jalil said he reached out to two shark experts as a result ¨C and they both ruled out the same thing.
¡°What caused the bite mark was a big discussion on social media with many commenters fighting between two opinions, mating scar or act of aggression,¡± Jalil said.
¡°After I sent this image to Dr. Tristan Guttridge, he ruled out mating.?I also sent it to Michael Domeier who also felt it was an attack from another shark.?That¡¯s why this photo went very viral," he added.?
Jalil also posted the pictures on his Instagram page, prompting nature lovers to question the shark's injury.??
A number of sharks with grave scars have been spotted before, including some?males that have forcefully had sex with the female of the species.?
Great white sharks are known for scrapping one another and will even eat each other.
Professor Mark Meekan, from the Australian Institute for Marine Science, revealed in the 2019 National Geographic documentary?Cannibal Sharks?that all sharks are cannibals - even fearsome great whites.
He said: "It's not just one rogue shark attacking other sharks or even one species of shark attacking other sharks, it's lots of different sharks turning on each other."
For more from trending stories, click?here.