Broadnose Sevengill Shark (Notorynchus cepedianus), a type of cow shark, swimming amongst kelp. Near Simon's Town on the outskirts of Cape Town.

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Broadnose Sevengill Shark (Notorynchus cepedianus), a type of cow shark, swimming amongst kelp. Near Simon's Town on the outskirts of Cape Town.

Photo by: GettyImages/James R.D. Scott

GettyImages/James R.D. Scott

Shark Flings Itself Out of Water to Avoid Becoming Orca’s Snack

A sevengill shark flings itself out of the water and onto rocks to avoid becoming an orca's meal.

Sometimes the only way out is up, as evidenced by the surprising story of a sevengill shark that managed to fling itself out of the water and onto rocks to avoid becoming an orca's next meal.

Under normal circumstances, though, this very well could have been the end of the road for the desperate sevengill, which appeared to be completely stranded on the rocks. Luckily for the shark, however, a team of orca researchers was on hand to return the creature to the water, where it promptly beelined away from a nearby pod of still-hungry orcas.

"I've seen them come close a couple of times but never that high up onto the rocks out of the water," orca expert and sevengill shark savior Dr. Ingrid Visser told Business Insider in an interview.

Another shark managed to find refuge on the rocks, successfully returning itself to the water without intervention.

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