Just 241 kilometers off the west coast of Mexico‘s Baja California Peninsula, a group of divers came face to face with a great white shark.
While swimming with great white sharks in 2016 near Guadalupe Island, a volcanic island off the coast of Mexico, a 13 footer broke into the metal cage with a diver.
Prior to the incident, the video footage shows the people on the boat throwing chunks of bloody tuna tied to a rope into the water, in an attempt to lure the sharks near the cages.
The divers inside the steel cages were then supposed to watch and film the sharks eating up close.
After one throw, the 13 foot great white shark lunged at the tuna, smashing through what was supposed to be a shark-proof steel cage.
The unbelievable moment was captured on film.
“Gabe and Garrett,” the YouTube account that posted the footage, shared a description of the incident:
“This is not our usual kids content and Gabe and Garrett did not go on this trip, this video is from my trip to Guadalupe Island (I’m their dad). On a recent great white shark cage diving trip we experienced a very rare horrifying shark encounter event, a shark breaching the side of the cage. What might appear to be an aggressive great white shark trying to attack the cage, this is not the case. 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. There was a single diver inside the cage. 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, analyzing the frenzied situation, and the shark was out after a few long seconds. Everyone on the boat returned to the cages the next day, realizing this was a very 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. I’m sure God and luck had a bit to do with it too! I want to return next year for another great white shark adventure!”
The shark was later spotted swimming around the boat, and was confirmed to be okay after the incident.
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