Poppy Bilderbeck
'Scary' footage of a Maori octopus attacking a draughtboard shark has social media users reevaluating their deep-est sea fears.
You may've thought sharks are the worst things to come nose-to-face to in the sea, but it turns out you should be keeping your eyes more peeled for tentacles too.
Australia's most advanced offshore wind project Star of the South Project took to Facebook to share footage of 'an epic battle between a draughtboard shark and Maori octopus'.
The clip shows the shark beginning to swim past the octopus, however, the tentacled sea creature reaches one of its long limbs out and grabs it, the shark opening its mouth wide as if screaming out.
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Suckered onto the Australian swellshark, the octopus then slithers on top of it, it's body pretty much completely enveloping the shark - who does not look best pleased as it's tossed and turned around.
All the time this is going on, fish seem to flock to watch the 'show', probably quite thankful the shark is being preyed on and not them.
However, luckily for the shark, the octopus seems to get bored - whether after realizing the shark is too big to eat or bored from playing with it who knows - and it relaxes its grip and the shark swims away.
And it hasn't taken long for the video to be spread far and wide over the internet.
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One user took to Reddit thread r/OceansAreF**kingLit to share the clip, writing: "An octopus giving a shark a weird surprise hug."
And well, it's clear some people found the analysis slightly debatable.
One responded: "Lmao that's not a 'weird surprise hug.' That shark is getting eaten."
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Indeed, despite the Tasmanian Government explaining draughtboard sharks can be dangerous - as despite their 'small teeth, they have a tendency to bite down on anything place in their jaws and then rolling and twisting their body' - the Maori octopus is one of the biggest and aggressive of the octopus species which inhabit New Zealand and Australian waters.
"The octopus tried but the shark was a little too big," another user replied.
Someone else said: "That sharks gonna check his pockets later and realise his wallets missing."
"Jaws vs Tentacles," a Redditor added.
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And people also can't get over it on Twitter too.
Despite Facebook users agreeing the footage is 'fascinating' and 'awesome,' for others, the clip is too much of an eerie reminder of just how scary the sea can be.
One Twitter user said: "Octopuses are not from this world."
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"This has an Alien World feel to it," another added.
A third commented: "Never seen an octopus eat before."
And a fourth simply resolved: "Nature is scary."
So, what do you think?