Warning: This is not for the faint of heart.
A diver escaped unharmed after a great white shark broke into his cage in an incident off the coast of Mexico.
Footage of the heart-in-mouth moment was posted on YouTube this week and shows the great white approaching bait (tuna on a rope) located near the cage before managing to squirm through a gap in the cage and thrashing around violently.
Seconds after entering the cage, the shark emerged back into the open water.
A crew member is seen trying to pull the diver out of the cage and, shortly after the shark has moved away, the diver emerges out of the cage, unharmed, to cheers from bystanders on the boat.
Be warned, some viewers may find the footage disturbing.
Clip via Gabe and Garrett
A description on the video on YouTube, uploaded by Gabe and Garrett, was at pains to point out that this was not a case of the shark trying to attack the cage.
The description read:
“On a recent great white shark cage diving trip we experienced a very rare 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!”
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