Terrifying moment researchers come face to face with giant ‘prehistoric’ shark

Deep sea researchers had their very own Jaws moment when they came face to face with a 'prehistoric' shark twice the size of their sub.

Footage taken by the crew of the Nadir submarine shows the 20ft long bluntnose sixgill shark thrashing about in the sand before coming up close for a closer look at them.

Launching up out of the murky deep, the creature gave researchers a shock as it began eying them up.

One can be heard shouting "look at the width of that thing" as the massive beast circled closer.

The team from OceanX dived down to more than 800m below sea level to find the creature, just off Cape Eleuthera in the Bahamas.

They had been hoping to tag one of the giant fish, a first for conservationists hoping to learn more about the incredible species.

And whilst they were not successful in tagging that particular beast, their hard work paid off as they were able to tag a male shark days later.

Little is known of the bluntnose sixgill in popular culture, but marine biologists studying them believe they can grow up to 20ft long.

Ocean X said: "The team came back to a hero’s welcome and a watch party of the footage in mission control.

"This is historic for a variety of reasons.

"Now that we’ve proven this method can work for the sixgill, we can unlock the world of leviathan deep-sea dwellers and gain important insights into their movement and behaviour."

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