This is the shocking moment a woman is mauled by a shark while she is swimming in a Chinese aquarium.
In the footage a woman dressed as a mermaid is inside a tank of water, in Jiangsu China.
She is surrounded by fish when a large shark starts to approach her.
As the woman – named Ms Li – starts to swim up to the surface the shark suddenly lurches towards the performer and chomps down on her arm.
Following the attack on June 19 2023, Ms Li was rushed to hospital where she underwent a five-hour operation and over 100 stitches.
The injury was so deep that her bone was exposed and medics recovered a shark tooth.
It also left Ms Li with permanent damage to her hand nearly two years later.
A second, horrifying video shows the graphic aftermath of the attack with Ms Li’s arm bloody and requiring multiple stitches.
In the footage a woman dressed as a mermaid, named Ms Li, is inside a tank of water surrounded by fish and a large shark in Jiangsu China
As Ms Li starts to swim up to the surface the shark suddenly lurches towards her chomping down on her arm leaving the mermaid performer with devastating injuries
Now, Ms Li has filed a complaint against the aquarium after they failed to reach a compensation agreement.
Ms Li told local media had signed up for the China Mermaid Open – a performance competition held four or five times a year.
She said: ‘If you enter the top three, you may also qualify for the World Mermaid Competition, which offers very attractive prizes.’
In 2023, she successfully entered the competition and wanted to do some training at the ‘Sipadan Diving’ in Wuxi Sunac Sea World.
Ms Li had made a short break while a staff member fed the sharks and then returned into the water.
However, one shark was apparently still hungry and as Ms Li was floating towards the surface, it approached from her right side and bit her arm.
She said that the shark had poor eyesight and may have mistaken her arm for fish food or may have been frightened.
She desperately poked the beast in the eyes and its head until it let go of her.
A ‘mermaid’, known only as 22-year-old Russian performer Masha, was attacked by a fish during a performance in January this year
Masha waves to families as fish swim past her. But as she slowly moves to the surface a giant creature bobs above her head. It then suddenly clasps its huge jaws around her face
The Binhu District People’s Court of Wuxi City ruled that the operator of the diving project was ordered to bear 70 per cent of the responsibility, and Ms Li was responsible for 30 per cent.
The court ruled that Ms Li had signed a waiver and had a diving licence, and failed to observe her surroundings enough to ensure her safety.
But the aquarium was also found guilty of failing to meet safety standards.
The Sipadan Company, which operates the aquarium, was ordered to pay Ms Li £14,342.49 in compensation.
Ms Li said that this case is the first of its kind in the country and claimed that the main cause of the accident was negligence on the part of the operator.
She was not satisfied with the verdict as she had not teased the shark.
She said: ‘This accident could have been avoided. I just hope that the other party can bear all my medical expenses.’
Ms Li now plans to appeal.
In January, a young mermaid performer at the Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park, in China, was attacked by a giant fish in front of terrified children.
The ‘mermaid’, known only as 22-year-old Russian performer Masha, is seen in an aquarium tank gliding through the water while wearing a bikini top and tail.
She waves to families as fish swim past her. But as she slowly moves to the surface a giant creature bobs above her head.
It then suddenly clasps its huge jaws around her face which caused people watching on to scream and shout out in terror.
She manages to break free within seconds and quickly surfaces.
Masha was reportedly offered some £78 in ‘moral damages’ after the attack but was barred from talking about it as her bosses at Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park tried to ‘cover up’ the incident.
The treatment of the so-called real-life mermaids in China and South Korea has been brought into question recently.
Many who work in profession claim they are being subjected to grueling, near-slave-like conditions, forced to perform for hours on end in hazardous environments, and denied medical care – all for a pittance in pay.
One mermaid is Maria who was lured to South Korea in 2024 with the promise of a structured schedule – five shows a day, one day off per week, and a salary of 1.8 million Korean won (roughly £1,100).
But soon after starting the job, it became clear that these promises were meaningless.
This includes diving up to 70 times a day and sharing a tank with sea creatures whose secretions, she said, were toxic and caused skin reactions and respiratory issues.