This is the moment Jaws lost a bit of its bite. A great white shark snapped off one of its fearsometeeth as it launched a surprise attack on a seal in the waters off Cape Town.

The moment was captured by photographer David Jenkins, 41, who noticed the gnasher flying through the air when he checked the images later.

Mr Jenkins had been sailing for weeks in search of the perfect wildlife shot.

Snap: The errant tooth (circled) can be seen flying out of the shark’s mouth as its clamps its jaws around the seal it was hunting in South Africa

He said: ‘It all happened incredibly quickly, I didn’t know the shark had lost its tooth until I zoomed in on the image on the back of my camera to check if the photo was sharp and in focus.

‘I have never seen this happen or even seen a photo of this happening on a real seal hunt before, its definitely a unique shot.

Exostic: David Jenkins, 41, took the incredible picture off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa

‘It was a cloudy day which made it great hunting conditions for the shark, the cloud it makes it much more difficult for the seal to spot the shark and its grey back makes for perfect camouflage.

‘I don’t think it can be too painful for the shark to lose one tooth as they can lose up to 50,000 in a lifetime, also their teeth are attached to skin rather than being embedded in their jaw.

‘The final pictures were definitely worth the wait and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.’