What's it like to come face to face with a Great White Shark?

 

What's it like to come face to face with a Great White Shark? That is a question I get asked time and time again. With the news media portraying sharks as blood thirsty, mindless killers, just looking to eat us, most people think I have a death wish, diving with sharks. So I thought I should share what it is really like to come face to face with one of the most feared creatures on earth.

Here is a little video that shows how most people think an encounter with a shark will be like.

The reality it is more like the sharks swim by slowly, looking you straight into the eyes and showing absolutely no signs that they want to eat you.

When I first started diving with white sharks, what struck me is the fact that it is not scary at all. I'm by no means the only one that feels that way. In 15 seasons of taking divers to meet these awesome creatures, the most common reaction when coming face to face with a great white shark is just awe. Even divers who saw "Jaws" and joined us expecting a huge adrenaline rush, mostly are just blown away by the experience and don't find it the least bit scary. The scariest part of the expedition is the anticipation of that first meeting.

I remember that after about 3 trips to Guadalupe Island I started thinking "I've seen it" and didn't expect to do this for much longer. Well, at the time I didn't expect to be in the cage and have "Shredder" swim by to check me out. When he looked me straight into the eye, something happened. I realized that this huge shark is focused on me, that he was individually checking everyone out.

Shredder

Thinking back, that is when I fell in love with those sharks. Now as I always say to our divers. I love those sharks, but it is not a mutual feeling. That is perfectly OK. I love them for what they are, awesome predators, not mindless killers, but certainly no harmless pets either.

I don't feel the need to tell everyone that these sharks love me and that I can go hold onto their fins, because they accept me as one of their own. Come to think of it, I'm glad that they don't treat me as one of their own. Even though I'm not a small person, in terms of white shark size, I would be a very, very small shark. White sharks definitely are into having their personal space and don't react kindly to a smaller individual invading that space. I've seen what they do to a smaller shark that is doing this.

I've been diving with sharks for over 15 years and I'm excited every time I'm about to get into the water with them. I find them fascinating and discovered that they are generally very cautious and even shy, not the mindless killers the media makes them out to be at all. Last season I saw 3 white sharks that got scared by a towel that fell overboard and drifted down. 2 of them checked it out and got the heck out of there. One of them kept circling it, approaching it and jerking away, when the towel moved a little. He kept doing that until both he and the towel went out of sight.

I hope that I have given you an idea of what it feels like to come face to face with a great white shark. If you really want to know, there is no substitute for experiencing it for yourself and I hope you'll get that chance. It is an experience you'll never forget. When you do go out, remember that while we don't have to fear these sharks, we definitely have to respect them.

We at Shark Diver promote "Safe and Sane Shark Diving" that respects the sharks and the environment. We hope to see you on one of our expeditions to Guadalupe Island.

Let's go shark diving!

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

Shark Diving - Guarding a Global Industry

Unfortunately there are those who would use our global $400 million dollar industry for their own ends.

Some are well known shark experts based in Florida, whose Pavlovian response to cameras pushed into their face is to spout anti-shark diving rhetoric ad nauseam - without any empirical data to back them up.

Others are media based hatchet men, who use fear, industry images and soundtracks to boost ratings, trolling the basest of human emotions to slander operations without providing balance, nuance, and research (yes research) to highlight our industry.

Against these seasonal onslaughts of Shakespearean intrigue towards a thriving global industry stand a few blogs who take to task the failings of these few well voiced and misguided individuals, and we ask that you take a stand as well.

Collectively we have the horsepower to push back against those who might seek to harm our industry. The media consistently calls upon a few outside our community for quotes about shark diving because no one else has stood up to be heard.

In a media vacuum the small minded will always work from the nearest "shark contact rolodex" and it is high time we changed that, as the current rolodex is filled with misinformation, slander, and moronic statements.

It is also high time we started pushing back when we see stories like those that appeared out from the primordial ooze last week in Australia. Fashioned by a 1970's era media hack by the name of Anthony Hoy Media who's entire "shark diving research department" came from a dog eared copy of Jaws he found in a rubbish bin at the back of a bar he had been frequenting last month.

Fortunately there's Mike aka Da Shark, or as we like to call him "The Shark Diving Industries Rottweiler," who is more than happy to lead by example and take to task those who would seek to use the hard work and dedication of many within our industry for their own sad ends.

Well done.

Mike on Anthony Hoy's Expose.

Ron and Val Taylor - Shark History CNN

Two passionate divers and filmmakers who have seen first hand the public's perception shift towards sharks based on the media's portrayal of them. Today, 30 years after JAWS, both are committed conservationists and back in the media sharing their experiences:

"The Asian market just can't get enough of sharks fin; the price has gone way up. Even Australian fishermen are taking shark fins now in the Great Barrier Reef.Some species of sharks are protected, like the Great White Shark... but with other species of sharks there are no restrictions."

Sharks-Super 8 Fun from 1978

We decided to share with you a Super 8 Shark Film from the 70's. That is when we were finished spitting up coffee all over the place (again). You gotta check out the braces, cars, telephones with cords and rotary faces, and the very old archival white shark footage (Ron and Val Taylor?). This film is a classic:

Frank Mundus-Shark Killer- R.I.P

One of the most reviled characters to ever grace the world of sharks-Frank Mundus- is dead this week.

A local legend, shark hunter, and some say the background character of "Quint" from "Jaws". His was a career that moved through the shark hysteria of the 70's and into the new world of shark conservation, all without changing, or adapting to the new paradigm of sharks:

They called him the Monster Man. His business was the stuff of tall tales. Gear for the day might include a harpoon, buckets of blood and the patience to wait for a shark to come along and take a bite.

"I was the pioneer of sport fishing for sharks," Frank Mundus, a legendary shark hunter, said in his trademark blunt style on his Web site.

The Monster Man's own words sum up perfectly a life said to have inspired the movie "Jaws" and its roguish Captain Quint, played by the late Robert Shaw. Mundus died Wednesday of complications from a heart attack suffered Sept. 6, just after he returned to his Hawaii home from a fishing trip in Montauk. He was 82.

Famous Shark Cage To Be Unveiled At Aquarium Sunday

The One, The Only, cage that started it all "Blue Water-White Death". A classic film for sharky types is now on display...just in time for Shark Week. If we had a bigger office we would buy it...heck if we were ever in the office:

Even in print, the flashback to the summer of 1975 and the blockbuster movie, “Jaws” gets the heart racing. For some, either Peter Benchley’s novel or Stephen Spielberg’s film are the reason they won’t get in the water more than three decades later.

There may be no other creatures in the animal world more feared and more misunderstood than sharks. Visitors at the Tennessee Aquarium get an up close view of the powerful bodies, strong and tooth-filled jaws of sandbar and sand tiger sharks in the Secret Reef.

eBay White Shark Jaw Loophole?

We just knew this was not going to be easy, it never is.

Following the discovery of a complete set of white shark jaws for sale on eBay we dug around a bit more and discovered the following website. Frankly for a shark diving company like ours we had thought these kind of sites were all but gone following regulations.

If this sites claims are true, we stand corrected, but it does not take away from the fact the trade in white shark jaws remains a repugnant practice.

Seems wherever there's a market you'll find a seller:

This entire page is dedicated to genuine GREAT WHITE SHARK TEETH. The teeth have come from a large great white (genuine Carcharodon Carcharius) (estimated at an 18-20 footer) caught before December of 1998; after this time they were declared protected, then endangered, so no great whites have been caught since that time.

PLEASE NOTE: Great white shark teeth & jaws can be shipped only within the U.S..

THAT IS WHY THE PRICES OF THE GREAT WHITE SHARK TEETH ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER SHARK TEETH IN THE WORLD.

We do not go out and catch sharks for their teeth! Great whites were declared endangered since December 1998 so it is ILLEGAL to catch them now. But they are NOT ILLEGAL TO OWN OR SELL. So what are people supposed to do with the ones that are already in circulation? Hide them? Throw them away? No, those that are in circulation are allowed to be traded, sold, resold, collected, displayed, bragged upon, showed off.

So because there are a limited amount of these specimens in circulation.....the value has only one place to go....UP (just like elephant ivory products). Modern Great White shark teeth are not found while diving or digging. They now only come from existing collections.

Jaws Star Dead at 75

Who didn't like Roy Scheider, the geeky tough guy town sheriff from Jaws?

In a movie that had more eco-blow back for sharks than any single movie on the planet, his was a legacy that no one could have imagined.

From the LA Times:
He probably will be best remembered for his role as Martin Brody, the water-shy police chief in "Jaws" (1975) who uttered the immortal line: "You're gonna need a bigger boat," after seeing the size of the shark. He once lamented that the role "will be on my tombstone.

To his tribute, and as a reminder of how far we have come in the understanding of Great Whites here is that fateful scene from 1975 that sent us and 25 million others out of their pools, lakes, ponds and oceans for an entire summer:

Gametap Delivers-Play JAWS For Free!

Praise be to the Shark Gods, Buddha, Jebus, or who ever you praise be to-Gametaps giving something away for free. JAWS!

Now we know this blog is not about buying things, so when we heard that you can actually play JAWS for free, we had to go play for ourselves. In JAWS Unleashed you are a freakishly large great white hell bent on oceanic destruction. About the only thing you do not have in this bloody fun game are "Frickin Lazer Beams"...too bad

It's fun to be an apex predator chomping through boats, divers, girls in bikinis...and less.

Here's the trick, you need to download the game player, the whole set up takes about 5 minutes and then it's chomping time baby!

Here's the link

Cue the theme -- there's an oversized shark in the water with a taste for humans. The famous Great White has returned to terrorize the Amity shoreline in Jaws Unleashed, and this time, you control the shark! They're definitely gonna need a bigger boat.

Until December 31st and then you have to pay to play or go join a real shark diving company!