Amanda Brewer – an art teacher from Whitman Elementary School in Turnersville, New Jersey, USA – took an amazing, terrifyingly close-up photograph of a female great white shark while she was cage-diving off the coast of Seal Island and it has snapped up a double-spread in the Guinness World Records 2016 book.
 
The shark enthusiast took the extraordinary shot on 22 August 2014 with a GoPro camera when she was volunteering with the charity White Shark Africa in Mossel Bay, South Africa and when she posted it on Twitter it quickly went viral.
 
largest-predatory-fish-page
 
The rare great white shark or the Carcharodon carcharias (Greek for "sharp-toothed") is the Largest predatory fish on Earth, with adult specimens averaging 14-15 ft (4.3-4.6 m) long and generally weighing 520-770 kg (1,150-1,700 lb).
 
There are many claims of huge specimens up to 10 m (33 ft) in length and, although few have been properly authenticated, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that some great whites grow to more than 6 m (20 ft) in length.
 
largest-predatory-fish-other-photo
 
Amanda wanted her photo to be linked to shark conservation and hopes that it will educate people about these fascinating creatures – one thought-provoking fact included in the book is that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year because of Asia's commercial trade for shark fins as a food delicacy.
 
On finding her name in the book, Amanda said: “I thought, Oh my goodness I read this book when I was a kid and here it is … Not only just my photo but my name.”
 
Amanda’s incredible snap introduces a whole section on astonishing record-breaking animals in Guinness World Records 2016: available in stores and online now.
 
2016 Guinness World Records Books