Flying Sharks: Stunning Photos Of Ocean Predators In Action

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a... shark? Husband-and-wife photography team Chris and Monique Fallows share their photos from Africa of the great white shark, a super-predator that can lunge ten feet from the ocean to grab its prey.

A recent study found that off California's coast, there are not nearly as many great white sharks as expected, and there is a need to maintain their population level.

All photos and accompanying text are courtesy of National Geographic's NewWatch blog.

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In the Air

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Photo courtesy of Chris Fallows, www.apexpredators.com

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Photo courtesy of Chris Fallows, www.apexpredators.com

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Comments

[Alices Amanita]

06:28 AM on 07/06/2011

Badass!

[Scent]

05:02 AM on 07/05/2011

All over the world there have been but 2200 shark attacks since registry began 200 years ago. They LOOK terrible but ten times as many people wer hurt by their own toilet last year than by sharks in 200 years.

But we love the icy feeling of dread, right? We WANT to be afraid.

[ipv4]

03:16 PM on 07/20/2011

There is not much more terrifying then the fear of a unexpected loss of a limb by something that you never saw coming.

[rexitalia]

07:31 PM on 07/03/2011

All I know is when they are near I want avery big boat.

[bighornman]

05:24 PM on 07/03/2011

Don't throw a stick and tell your black dog to fetch for it. The sharks may have mistaken it for a seal, but it tastes good anyway.

[maslin]

08:12 AM on 07/03/2011

I just did some reading on Great Whites. They are far more interesting than I realized.

Some highlights:

-They are social and have been observed showing up and departing feeding sites in the same groups of 2-6 year after year in something akin to wolfpacks.

-They have a dominance hierarchy that extends beyond these 'clans': females > males, larger > smaller, residents > transients.

-They are sometimes preyed on by orca.

[bbriani3842]

09:26 PM on 07/02/2011

#5 -- You can actually hear the seal screaming "HOLY SHlT!"

[maslin]

08:15 AM on 07/03/2011

Just read your micro-bio. Black Labs are such a great breed. Sorry for your loss. Looks like a good pooch.

[MsVella]

09:11 AM on 07/19/2011

I know! You can actually see its eyes wide open!

[Elle Bach]

09:44 PM on 07/21/2011

I think that's its mouth. As in: YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES. (Poor thing. i know; even sharks have to eat...but still, why couldn't they be vegans..lol)

[FZliveson]

01:12 PM on 06/30/2011

Shark Week is a must-see on the Discovery Channel every year. Starts July 31st at 9:00PM this year! Can't Wait. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/shark-week/

[IndyGuy]

03:19 PM on 06/29/2011

Great White's attack from the murky bottom. They hover very deep and wait for seals, then rush up and hit their prey, then crushing them with their enormous teeth. Someday I want to see these magnificent creatures up close!

[maslin]

08:17 AM on 07/03/2011

Actually, they attack from different directions depending on prey. For smaller pinnipeds, they come from below and bite the midsection. For larger ones (eg elephant seals) they try to cripple the seal by biting its hindquarters and then they let it bleed to death. For dolphins and other cetaceans, they apparently like to come from above or behind to defeat echolocation.

[KMBerger]

01:28 PM on 06/29/2011

Great photography, and I hope we will protect these endangered species from being fished anymore.

[Rory Canfield]

01:22 PM on 06/29/2011

Amazing creatures. Read a book my 13 year old had called Hell's Aquarium and the Megaladons ... I didn't go to the pool or ocean for a little while after reading that. This makes me wonder about that fin I saw down off of Clearwater beach back in April when I was swimming.

[hculliton]

08:52 AM on 06/29/2011

Magnificent. Too bad that we've so wrecked the oceans, that we're headed for a mass extinction event.

[maslin]

06:36 PM on 07/01/2011

This organism has already survived some of those.

[bbriani3842]

09:27 PM on 07/02/2011

What is it? 300 million years and counting?

[20thCentury Man]

02:21 AM on 06/29/2011

Go Seals !

[crparke]

11:27 PM on 06/28/2011

"I'M A SHAAARRRK!"

[czs5056]

07:56 PM on 06/28/2011

Get the Buck Shot. We need to keep them out of the skies.

[Krek]

07:13 PM on 06/28/2011

The BBC documentary series "Planet Earth" did super slo-mo video of these airborne shark attacks in 2005. Really impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZPhQewYf3c

[maslin]

06:56 PM on 07/01/2011

That series is so amazingly good.