Video: six of the most terrifying shark attacks caught on camera

July 23-30 this year marks much-anticipated Shark Week, which celebrates these divisive creatures. Here is a round up of some of the most shocking attacks caught on camera in recent years:

1. A shark attacks a diver spearfishing in Florida

Parker Simpson was spearfishing near Middle Sambo Reef off Boca Chica in Florida Keys and had a lucky escape when a shark attacked him and his fellow diver in June 2017.

"I assumed he was trying to steal the black grouper I was holding. But after I lost the grouper and watched it swim to the bottom, the shark kept coming at us," Simpson writes on his medical bills fundraising page. "Justyn went back down for my gun and actually shoved it in the shark's mouth like a bad**s! The shark then took it straight to the bottom while we rushed back to the boat and safety."

The shark attacked both of Simpson's fins and took a chunk out of his leg, ripping through skin, fat tissue, muscle, muscle sheath, and his tibial artery, which caused him to lose nearly a litre of blood.

The pair rushed back to the boat where Simpson received first aid. He was then whisked to the emergency room to receive 56 stitches.

GoPro footage captured 45 miles off the coast of New York caught the incredible moment when a boat came into contact with a group of sharks that were eating a whale carcass.

The underwater video captures the sharks circling and trying to bite the boat’s engines. Michael Maiale, who took the footage, said that one of the sharks was “three or four times” bigger than average.

It is thought that the group of sharks were in the process of migrating north towards Cape Cod where they feed upon the seal population.

A camera crew for the Discovery Channel had a scary encounter when a great white tried to attack their small dingy boat near Stewart Island in New Zealand.

The incident happened while the crew were filming for one of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week programmes. The great white can be seen trying to bite through the rope to detach the dinghy from its mother boat.

"It’s a little nerve-racking being in a boat no bigger than the size of the shark,” one of the cameramen says. “The shark is actually bigger than our boat.”

A group of fisherman had an encounter with a great white shark just eight miles from Florida’s shore. The shark tried to attack the 6.7 metre boat’s trolling motor. The boat’s captain, Scott Fitzgerald, said the attack was “exciting”.

"He had the entire trolling motor in his mouth, and was moving it side to side, and it was shaking the boat,” Fitzgerald said.

“I've been chartering for nine years, and I’ve never seen a shark try to attack my boat. It was very exciting for all of us. It really got our hearts beating hard."

A group of friends had a close encounter with a 4.9-metre-long great white shark 30 miles off the coast of New Jersey.

The boat’s owner, Steve Clark, managed to film the shark circling and attacking the boat. The shark reportedly circled the boat for about 20 minutes before eventually biting off the bag of bait.

"It was awesome. It wasn’t scary, cause we’re used to sharks. It was awesome," Clark said. "It swam down the length of the boat and I happened to see it first. Obviously, I was a little bit stunned.

"I didn’t say anything to anybody, I was looking at it, trying to process the information — it was quite a big fish."

South African Tour operator Rainer Schimpf, found his tour boat was being chewed by a Great White Shark while following the sardine runs near Seal Island.

"We stopped to take pictures and suddenly, the shark appeared next to the boat," said Schimpf in an interview with MaxAnimal about the attack. "This particular Great White shark was a female, she was about 4.5 metres long. Everybody was very excited."

The attack took place off the coast of Mossel Bay in South Africa and the group on board kept remarkably calm.

"The shark swam around the boat and suddenly decided to turn sideways and bite into the back port side pontoons of the boat, which deflated them immediately," Schimpf said, adding: "The shark may have mistaken the boat for a dead whale, this is the only logical explanation."

The shark can be seen tugging at the edge of the inflatable with vigour. The boat then speeds away, despite having a chunk taken out of one side.