Thanks to a group of engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study of the world's oceans, we can all have a more accurate idea of what it might be like to experience an open-water attack from a great white shark. Hooray?
Last summer, WHOI researchers deployed a camera-laden, remote-controlled underwater vehicle called the REMUS SharkCam near Mexico's Guadalupe Island. The REMUS is shaped like a torpedo and weighs 100 pounds. Its six cameras, affixed in the front and on the rear, give researchers a unique opportunity to observe wild marine life from multiple vantage points.
The WHOI team was monitoring the behavior of great whites for a Shark Week–related project when their camera suddenly came under attack. The results are fascinating—and terrifying.