Divers swimming with great white sharks captured the shocking moment a 13-footer broke into the metal cage with a diver.
The incident took place in 2016 near Guadalupe Island, a volcanic island located just 241 kilometers off the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula.
Video footage showed divers on the boat throwing chunks of bloody tuna tied to a rope into the ocean to lure the sharks near divers. The divers were in the steel cages at the back of the boat so that they could watch the sharks eat up close, and film them.
On this one particular throw, a 13-footer locked its eyes on the tuna and lunged at it with the big bite. That’s when it smashed through what’s supposed to be a shark-proof steel cage and the chaotic moment was captured on film.
“These awesome sharks are biting at large chunks of tuna tied to a rope. When a great white shark lunges and bites something, it is temporarily blinded. They also cannot swim backwards. So this shark lunged at the bait, accidentally hit the side of the cage, was most likely confused and not able to swim backwards, it thrust forward and broke the metal rail of the cage,” Gabe and Garrett wrote on YouTube.
Divers on board the boat watch as the shark broke completely into the cage with their diver friend and started thrashing around. At this point, one of the experienced divers opens the top door to the cage and a few seconds later the shark emerges through it with blood splashing everywhere.
Divers watching throw their hands on their heads fearing the worst. The shark eventually escapes out the top door and swims back off into the ocean while everyone begins to look for the diver and this is what happened:
“He ended up outside the bottom of the cage, looking down on two great white sharks. The diver is a very experienced dive instructor, remained calm, and when the shark thrashed back outside the cage, the diver calmly swam back up and climbed out completely uninjured. The boat crew did an outstanding job, lifting the top of the cage, analysing the frenzied situation, and the shark was out after a few long seconds,” Gabe and Garrett wrote.
When the diver emerged from the cage, he tapped himself on the head indicating that he was okay. Everyone was relieved and according to the post, the blood was from the shark receiving a minor injury after running into the cage.
The shark was spotted swimming around the boat later and was confirmed to be okay. All the divers returned the next day to swim with the sharks realizing what happed was an extremely rare event.
“The boat owner, captain, and crew are to be commended for making what could’ve been a tragic event into a happy ending.”
The video was shared on YouTube and has been viewed more than 36 million times and featured on Discovery’s show Shark Week.