This stunning picture captures the moment a great white shark leaps out of the water clutching a seal in its mouth.

The amazing picture of the great white was taken by Dana Allen, 50, in False Bay, off Cape Town in South Africa. The photographer captured the shark in mid-air hovering above the water with a ‘fake’ seal in its mouth.

Mr Allen’s team spent three days trying to set up the amazing shots by using a rubber ‘decoy’ seal to tempt the sharks out.

Worth the wait: This picture was taken by Dana Allen, 50, in False Bay, off Cape Town in South Africa after three days of waiting

This shark took the bait and breached the water – to make an incredible snap.

He said: ‘The strike, when it happens, takes just over a second, up and out and back into the water. If you flinch, you can miss it. We were getting ourselves settled, preparing for a long wait and then whoosh.

‘In an instant the four meter great white shark was up and out of the water, right in front of our eyes.

‘The water was streaming off it’s body and I pressed my trigger button. It almost seemed like slow motion and I remember seeing the eyes and the teeth as the shark leapt up.

‘I managed to get several shots off and as the shark disappeared into the water our whole group let out a whoop of joy. The whole event took place in a little over a second but it is surely one instant that will remain frozen in my minds eye for the rest of my life.

Duped: The shark breaches the water and jumps into the air, grabbing hold of the fake seal

Mid-air: Dana’s team spent three days trying to set up the amazing shots by using a rubber decoy seal to tempt the sharks out

Way down: The has its prey gripped in its teeth and is on its way into the water

‘I was leading a wildlife photographic workshop around Southern Africa and one of our goals was to photograph the great white sharks of False Bay.

‘We had scheduled three early morning trips while we were in Cape Town to try and get the best opportunity of photographing these sharks.

‘In addition to the early morning predation, we really wanted to get a clear shot of the breaching action of the great white sharks and this is best accomplished by pulling a rubber decoy seal behind the boat.

‘The third and last day we finally got the shot that we wanted.’

Splosh: Mr Allen said: ‘The strike, when it happens, takes just over a second, up and out and back into the water. If you flinch, you can miss it.’

Back under water: Mr Allen said: ‘In an instant the four meter great white shark was up and out of the water, right in front of our eyes.’