The hunter becomes the hunted! Incredible moment a hungry sea lion feasts on a shark off California coast is caught on camera

It’s not often you feel sorry for the sharks in the sea.

But these stunning pictures capture the incredible moment a sea lion turned the tables on the predators and feasted on a young thresher shark.(Scroll down for video )

And it’s a more common occurrence than you might think.

However, the scene shocked those aboard a whale-watching tour off the coast of Newport Beach in California last week.

Slater Moore, a photographer who was aboard the boat, captured the amazing images and flew his drone over the water to get a better view.

Gotcha! A photographer captured the incredible moment a sea lion feasted on a small thresher shark off the coast off Newport Beach 

Busy: A bird of prey is seen flying over the water as the sea lion enjoys his messy meal of an unfortunate thresher shark last Wednesday

‘It was absolutely insane,’ he told the Huffington Post. ‘Predator becoming prey, nature’s finest!’

Although he had seen sea lions gorging on sharks before, he was stunned to see five different sea lions attack small thresher sharks that day. ‘Everyone on the boat was completely shocked,’ he added.

The Marine Mammal Center describes California sea lions as ‘opportunistic’ eaters. The pinnipeds feed on squid, octopus, herring, rockfish, mackerel and small sharks.

But they in turn, are preyed upon by killer whales and great white sharks. 

Meanwhile, thresher sharks eat schooling fish, including bluefish, mackerel and tuna, as well as cuttlefish and squid - but also crustaceans and seabirds. 

Watch Video:

Feast: Photographer Slater Moore, who was aboard the boat, flew his drone over the water to get a better view of the amazing scene

However, young thresher sharks are easier targets as they have not learned how to avoid predators.

Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University at Long Beach, explained that sea lions attacking smaller sharks is common in the area.

'It's pretty common here in California,' he told Hakai magazine. 'California sea lions will kill five-foot-long [1.5- meter] leopard sharks. 

'Over the course of one summer I watched one bull sea lion basically knock an entire aggregation of leopard sharks down to nothing.' 

He added to the Huffington Post: 'It's certainly a turning of the tables. People don't think of marine mammals eating sharks, but it's actually kind of common.'

Lowe explained thresher sharks receive no training from the mothers after birth, but things change when the sharks mature.

Almost gone! Although sharks aren't commonly thought of as prey, sea lions, which are 'opportunistic' feeders, do often eat small sharks 

Say aah! Very little remains of the thresher shark after the sea lion has had its way. Those aboard witnessed five different pinnipeds attack small sharks that day

Source: Daily Mail