swimming with a Great White

[D_B]

whens hunting season start? ....

oops, High jack .. sorry

 

[Jason Ooi]

so braved....awesome video

 

[redrover]

Here's a video someone sent me about a guy swimming with a Great White shark.
What do you think about it?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjbfz_nage-avec-le-grand-blanc

I noticed the video was edited and also thought it was made from several encounters. Usually I’m very critical of such things but these didn’t bother me.

I really liked the first part, the initial encounter in particular. Something that large and powerful, with its reputation, having such exquisite speed control and appearing so docile.
I kept flipping emotions between alarm and tranquil. Did not forget it was the dreaded Great White nor hear the Jaws Da Dun, Da Dun.

I did wonder, what might be the point of the spear gun? Like a bear, bash it on the nose? What was the smaller item the diver carried in the second half? First I wondered if it was a bang stick but then later it looked thinner, maybe a knife? A shark seemed to bite at something, was it chum on a line?

I’d love to head the divers’ commentary on the experiences, I sensed he too shifted from relaxed to tense, very curious what his thoughts were.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

I've dived here off-and-on for 38 years now and never had a single encounter underwater (only topside while in boats). Of course it may be because I keep my eyes glued to my camera viewfinder and wouldn't see a shark if it were looking over my shoulder ("ignorance" is bliss?)!

Ted Sharshan reported seeing a Great White off Eagle Reef (Catalina Island) in the fall of '04. Ted said he was down 60 feet when he observed about 70 feet away what he thought was a marine mammal. He chased it for a better look, and after going around a bed of kelp approached within 25 feet. As he made it around the kelp he observed that his "mammal" had gill slits. This precipitated a "oh s**t" moment after which Ted reported a hasty retreat. The shark appeared to be disinterested in Ted as a potential prey item.

 

[drbill]

Ted Sharshan reported seeing a Great White off Eagle Reef (Catalina Island) in the fall of '04. Ted said he was down 60 feet when he observed about 70 feet away what he thought was a marine mammal. He chased it for a better look, and after going around a bed of kelp approached within 25 feet. As he made it around the kelp he observed that his "mammal" had gill slits. This precipitated a "oh s**t" moment after which Ted reported a hasty retreat. The shark appeared to be disinterested in Ted as a potential prey item.

I don't blame the shark... Ted doesn't have enough fat on him to qualify as food! I think I remember him telling me that story at the dive park. Heck, we've had "small" GWS's swim into Avalon Bay during winter.

 

[Hockeynut]

Maybe this guy will get a movie made about him like the "Grizzly Man"!!!!

 

[wardric]

yeah, or a tv serie, like Grizzly Adams

 

[Missdirected]

yeah, or a tv serie, like Grizzly Adams

Have you seen Man vz. Wild on Discovery? Reminds me of modern day Grizzly Adams. Btw, I loved that show

 

[MarkUK]

The guy in the video is not Andre Hartman, it is Mike Rutzen, of Shark Diving Unlimited. He is also the one you see on Animal Planet all the time.

Mike is South African too, and actually worked for Andre for a while before branching out on his own in Gaansbai. He has just done a Great White Shark Distinctive Specialty with PADI, where divers do two days of cage diving off Geyser Rock and Dyer Island, then a scuba dive in Shark Alley in the kelp with the seals. On the night times between the cage diving and seal dive, he does lectures on GWS behaviour, conservation efforts, etc, etc. I just did it for a story – very interesting.

We just finished filming a DVD with Mike, and actually have some of that footage from the clip in our programme.

Check out his website for some cool still shots of him with the great whites, and yes, I have seen him hand-off an inquisitive great white as he did in this clip. It might have been edited, as any footage is, and it is from several encounters, but he really does get that close and personal.

I am not personally a fan of the riding or touching he does, but he really knows his stuff about these animals, and his contact-free freediving is pretty amazing to see.

Mark

 

[wardric]

Thanks for the presision MarkUK.

I was mislead by infos on the video's site (forum). Still awesome.

Do you have the link of Mike Rutzen website?