20 Hair-Raising Photos That Show What Really Lurks In The Shadowy Depths Of The Ocean

Our planet is home to a number of scary places, but it could be argued that the deep sea is the most frightening of them all. From blood-sucking eels to sharks with jaws which shoot out of their mouth, it’s a locale full of terrifying surprises. So on that note, we’ve compiled a list that might make you think twice about diving into the ocean.

20. A close shave

Some of us may be excited at the thought of swimming with sharks. In most cases, a participant will be placed inside a cage to prevent the aquatic predator from attacking them. But as we can see here, there are other individuals who find themselves inadvertently confronted by the large fish while exploring the deep sea.

The YouTube channel Jake’s Top 10 posted a clip of a diver who came face-to-face with a 6-foot tiger shark in the open sea. But instead of swimming for safety, the man is seen gliding alongside the fish for several minutes. The peace is then broken when a group of tuna arrive and the tiger shark takes a bite of out them – narrowly missing the hapless diver. Thankfully, a group of other fish arrive to finish off the tuna, and our swimmer makes his way to safety.

19. The gulper eel

Below the surface, there are said to be roughly 800 different types of eel swimming around. And this jet-black gulper eel filmed in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument near Hawaii is definitely one of the more bizarre forms of the species. In the video – uploaded by the Exploration Vessel Nautilus’ YouTube channel – the fish seems pretty normal at first. But that soon changes when the camera takes a closer look under the water.

These types of eels have the ability to open their mouths extremely wide, “gulping” down prey if it gets too close beneath the waves. And we are given an unnerving glimpse of that in the clip, as the fish’s jaws are seen expanding to an incredible size.