This Swimmer Stays Calm When a Great White Shark Darts Right at Him

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Written by Jennifer Geer

Published: November 21, 2024

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A shot of the beautiful wild great white shark underwater
Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock.com

There is a reason why movie makers used a great white shark as the shark in the movie Jaws. These massive creatures are the largest predatory fish in the world and routinely hunt large mammals such as sea lions, sea turtles, whales, otters, and seals. Coming face to face in open water with a 2-ton fish with 300 sharp teeth might make anyone lose their cool.

However, the cinematographer in the above video managed to get amazing footage of a great white shark swimming by. The diver somehow managed to keep his calm during the encounter. In the video, the shark swims straight for him before veering off to the side, turning around, and seemingly leaving the scene. However, the shark is not gone. It comes back again straight for the diver before swimming away yet again. This happens multiple times, and the diver gets an amazing video of the shark — it swims so close to him that you can even see the scars on the side of its body and fins.

Great White Shark on the attach showing mouth wide open.

A great white shark has several rows of teeth and preys on marine mammals such as sea lions.

Where Great White Sharks Live

Great white sharks can be found in oceans around the world including the North Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific. This video was filmed in Lucky Bay near Esperance, Australia. The film crew was making a documentary about sharks and had a tip that a great white might be swimming around in the waters.

Some of the most likely places you could encounter a great white shark include off the coast of Gansbaai, South Africa, Fraser Island in Australia, and the Channel Islands in southern California. However, in the Pacific Ocean, they live all the way from Baja California, Mexico up to the Gulf of Alaska.

Do They Attack Humans?

Despite what Jaws taught us, great white sharks are not known to hunt humans. It doesn’t mean you aren’t in danger if you spot one, but they typically aren’t going out of their way to hunt down and eat swimmers. Shark attacks in general are fairly rare with 91 attacks worldwide in 2023 and 22 of those were provoked by the person attacked. Out of the 91, 10 of those attacks were fatal.

What to Do if You Encounter a Great White Shark in Open Water

Even though great white sharks aren’t known to hunt people, attacks do happen. Four of the 10 fatal attacks in 2023 were done by great white sharks (one in California and three in Australia.) The video above gives you a great example of staying calm if a great white shark makes an appearance. The diver filming the video had nothing to defend himself and was only wearing a snorkel. Yet he managed to survive his awesome encounter without getting hurt.

Like the diver in the video, if you see any species of shark, stay calm. Don’t try to flee or move frantically. The shark might be swimming by, but if it sees you splashing and yelling, it may get intrigued and come in closer to check if you are prey. To avoid sharks altogether, pay attention to beach warnings, stay away from areas where lots of seals are swimming, and don’t swim at dusk or dawn.


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About the Author

Jennifer Geer

Jennifer Geer is a writer at A-Z Animals where her primary focus is on animals, news topics, travel, and weather. Jennifer holds a Master's Degree from the University of Tulsa, and she has been researching and writing about news topics and animals for over four years. A resident of Illinois, Jennifer enjoys hiking, gardening, and caring for her three pugs.

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