A salvage diver in South Africa came extremely close to having his head bitten off by a massive great white shark, if the incredible video footage is to be believed, and at least one shark expert has no reason not to believe it. The video was first shared by Dennis Dempsey on the SA Spearfishing Facebook page but has since been taken down. Youngbloods, an Australian ocean adventure group, also posted the footage, as did Ocean Imaging Action, but with very few details, as reported by WA Today and the Mirror:
The son of the salvage diver shot video purported to show a great white shark coming out of nowhere and surprising the diver. The shark, with its mouth slightly opened, head-butts the diver with its lower jaw before lazily swimming off, leaving a stunned diver. If it had wanted, the great white shark could easily have chomped down on the diver’s head, but it appeared to be just curious. “Shark realized it wasn’t food… his body language wasn’t in attack mode…that’s when his back is arched and pectoral fins are down…in no way was he in danger…makes shark more intelligent than us!!!!” one commenter wrote on the SA Spearfishing Facebook page, according to Nine News in Australia. Another wasn’t so sure about the video’s authenticity, writing, “Ahhh…the Great White Photoshop, sadly these beautiful creatures are becoming rarer since the heady days of ‘jumping out of the water at a diver climbing up a rope ladder into a helicopter with the golden gate bridge in the background.’” Drew Scerbo, a scientific advisor for the White Shark Interest and White Shark Advocacy groups, appears to be in the “real video” camp, telling Pete Thomas Outdoors it looked as if the shark tore a piece of rubber from the diver’s wetsuit. “Looks like the diver reaches up and pulls off a piece of his hood,” Scerbo said. “Thank goodness for a 7-9 mm piece of neoprene, eh?” Though the video has yet to be verified, it is certainly garnering widespread interest online. Read more about sharks on GrindTV Sharks prompt beachgoers to cry out in panic ‘get out of the water!’; video Surfer’s close call with shark surfaces in photos Tiger shark nursed back to life amid Australia’s controversial shark-culling program
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A salvage diver in South Africa came extremely close to having his head bitten off by a massive great white shark, if the incredible video footage is to be believed, and at least one shark expert has no reason not to believe it.
The video was first shared by Dennis Dempsey on the SA Spearfishing Facebook page but has since been taken down. Youngbloods, an Australian ocean adventure group, also posted the footage, as did Ocean Imaging Action, but with very few details, as reported by WA Today and the Mirror:
The son of the salvage diver shot video purported to show a great white shark coming out of nowhere and surprising the diver. The shark, with its mouth slightly opened, head-butts the diver with its lower jaw before lazily swimming off, leaving a stunned diver.
If it had wanted, the great white shark could easily have chomped down on the diver’s head, but it appeared to be just curious.
“Shark realized it wasn’t food… his body language wasn’t in attack mode…that’s when his back is arched and pectoral fins are down…in no way was he in danger…makes shark more intelligent than us!!!!” one commenter wrote on the SA Spearfishing Facebook page, according to Nine News in Australia.
Another wasn’t so sure about the video’s authenticity, writing, “Ahhh…the Great White Photoshop, sadly these beautiful creatures are becoming rarer since the heady days of ‘jumping out of the water at a diver climbing up a rope ladder into a helicopter with the golden gate bridge in the background.’”
Drew Scerbo, a scientific advisor for the White Shark Interest and White Shark Advocacy groups, appears to be in the “real video” camp, telling Pete Thomas Outdoors it looked as if the shark tore a piece of rubber from the diver’s wetsuit.
“Looks like the diver reaches up and pulls off a piece of his hood,” Scerbo said. “Thank goodness for a 7-9 mm piece of neoprene, eh?”
Though the video has yet to be verified, it is certainly garnering widespread interest online.
Read more about sharks on GrindTV
Sharks prompt beachgoers to cry out in panic ‘get out of the water!’; video
Surfer’s close call with shark surfaces in photos
Tiger shark nursed back to life amid Australia’s controversial shark-culling program
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
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