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Researchers off the coast of Virginia got the surprise of their lives when a small shark they caught suddenly became devoured by a Great White. And if you think this is one of those tall tales that fishermen sometimes spin of “the one that got away,” the researchers were able to snap a photo of this cannibalistic incident, which you can see embedded below.

“Boy did he make a mess of our line!” Virginia Institute of Marine Science researchers wrote in a Facebook post. “For size reference the small shark was 4 feet. We estimated the mature male great white at 12-13 feet!”

Th smaller shark was a black tip shark that the researchers caught during a longline fishing survey.  While the great white chowed down on the black tip shark, the researchers rushed to save the other sharks they had corralled in their monitoring and assessment program. Sharks captured by the institute are tagged and released.

The amazing image below was shot by Kaitlyn O’Brien, a Master’s Student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Via WTOP