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Great white shark seen devouring whale carcass
Sarasota boaters who went about 15 miles offshore to see the carcass of a whale that had died after beaching itself off the coast of Venice came face-to-face with a great white shark.
SARASOTA, Fla. - Boaters in Sarasota got up close and personal with a great white shark on Sunday while the giant fish was gorging on the carcass of a whale that died after beaching itself off the coast of Venice earlier this month.
The day after the whale was towed out to sea, sharks were seen devouring what was left of the animal.
"For that whale to be able to get back to the ocean and complete its lifecycle was kind of a happy event for us, but definitely the last 24 hours 36 hours has been a bag of emotions for me, and I think it has been for most of the people at NOAA and Mote Marine," stated Craig Marcum with Sea Tow.
The boaters came face-to-face with a great white shark.
According to Storyful, Brian Paul Jung and his friends wanted to see the whale carcass and captured their encounter with the great white shark on camera.
READ: Whale that vanished from Atlantic over 200 years ago spotted off Massachusetts: 'Shouldn't exist'
In the video, the animal is seen headbutting their camera several times before chomping on the whale carcass.
The great white shark head-butted the Sarasota boaters' camera before eating the whale.
"It’s going to eat our engine," a woman can be heard saying in the footage as the shark swims up to their boat.
RELATED: Venice beached whale: Swim advisory lifted after dead whale towed out to sea
"We located the carcass and there were three great white sharks eating off the blubber on the whale," he said, adding that the sharks were also very interested in his boat.
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Beached whale completes circle of life offshore
Sharks are feeding on a 44-foot whale that died after beaching itself off the Venice coastline on Sunday.
"I say this is the best possible situation," Marcum explained. "We could have had a situation where they cut the whale up and took it to a landfill. That would have been terrible. We know there was a possibility of burying it on the beach once again. That is kind of a waste, but taking it offshore and letting the cycle of life complete itself and knowing that it was creating life for tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of other creatures, maybe even millions, kind of set us at ease knowing that was happening."
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