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Look Behind You

September 12, 2014

A REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle picked up an unexpected follower during a 2013 expedition near Guadalupe Island off the northwest coast of Mexico. The vehicle was equipped with a set of six cameras and a special navigation system that allowed it to track and video a white shark tagged with an acoustic transponder. During the mission, SharkCam, as it became known, went from hunter to hunted, as several sharks took an interest in the vehicle as potential prey. In much the same way they hunt seals, sharks would first follow it from below in Guadalupe’s deep, clear waters, before swimming straight up in the water column and biting the vehicle on its aft section. Film from the expedition was featured during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. (Image courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Oceanographic Systems Laboratory)