Though the vast majority of us will never have to encounter a shark out in the wild during our lifetime, it's a fear that many people have - and it's really not hard to understand why.
With their seemingly endless rows of teeth, their cold, dead eyes, and a killing ability that has been honed over literally millions of years, the beasts of the ocean are essentially murder machines.
But if there's one thing in this world more terrifying than a shark, it's whatever kind of monster is capable of doing this to a shark:
"So this was all we got back of this monster mako," wrote Trapman Bermagui, a fisherman from Australia. "Unfortunately we didn't see what ate it but must of [sic] been impressive!! The head was about 100kg."
Bermagui initially found the head of the shark, and then dragged up the remnants of the body.
"It was a crazy morning of shark fishing," he explained. "Hoping to catch smaller sharks but just hooked big sharks that got eaten by bigger sharks again. When I thought I’d seen it all, we cut about 35kg of meat off the mako head and discovered it had a marlin bill embedded in its head.. will upload the video soon. Has to been seen !!!! Its [sic] been in it for years.. amazing healing powers of the shark in one video!!!!!!"
Mako sharks are a reasonably large breed, and are actually the fastest of all known sharks. On average, they grow to about 3.2 metres (10 feet) in length, and weigh anywhere between 60 to 135 kg (132 to 298 lbs).
They can get much bigger, however, with the biggest specimen ever caught measuring 4.45 metres (14.6 feet) in length. It was caught off the coast of France in September 1973. The heaviest, meanwhile, was only caught back in 2013, in California, and weighed a whopping 600 kg (1,300 lbs).
It's thought to be most likely that the shark was attacked by another, larger shark - which isn't entirely uncommon.
This video, captured recently, shows two sharks fighting in the ocean:"Ever since I was a kid I have been obsessed with fishing and ocean life," Bermagui writes on his website.
"My father has been a commercial fisherman since the 50s, catching Snapper, Trag, Jew and Kingfish.
My passion for the ocean began when I refused to attend daycare and would go fishing with my dad instead. I am continuously amazed by the things I see on the ocean, things that most people will never get to experience.
Being on the ocean impacts my daily outlook on life in a way I can’t explain. I have huge respect for the ever changing nature of the ocean and am truly grateful to be part of the marine environment."
Props to Trapman for going out and in waters inhabited by beasts like this shark (and evidently something even bigger). He's clearly a much braver guy than most!
