Even though it's rare to spot a great white shark in the waters off Hawaii, divers had the even more extraordinary experience to swim with one of the largest ones on the planet this week, according to Al Jazeera.
The divers captured some footage of the breathtaking encounter with the shark known as Deep Blue - a 20-foot-long female.
Deep Blue was feeding off a whale carcass off the coast of Hawaii along with several other sharks.
"We saw a few (tiger sharks) and then she came up and all the other sharks split, and she started brushing up against the boat," said Ocean Ramsey, one of the divers, recounting the extraordinary encounter to the Honolulu Star Adviser.
Ramsey detailed the encounter on Instagram and said the shark was scratching herself on the boat and was flanked by dolphins as she swam.
"Deep Blue came up and brushed up against the boat, maybe she's pregnant, maybe she's itchy?" Ramsey wrote, adding: "She swam away escorted by two rough-toothed dolphins who danced around her."
Deep Blue is believed to be around 50 years old and weighs around 2.5 tons and was caught on camera in a video that went viral around five years ago for her mammoth size.
"I waited quietly, patiently, observing as she swam up to the dead sperm whale carcass and then slowly to me," she said. "I gently put my hand out to maintain a small space so her girth could pass."
Ramsey said she could touch the shark as it passed by.
Even though a number of divers and researchers frown on that practice, she claimed "sometimes sharks seek touch" and the species "are not the mindless monsters they are portrayed as."
Though Ramsey did admit the sharks can be highly unpredictable and warned against anyone "purposely jumping in the water with great white sharks or tiger sharks.'"
Ramsey studies sharks and leads cage-free shark diving tours, where she and her team are able to observe and identify sharks to share data with state and federal partners to help advocate for their conservation.
John Richardson, conservation officer at UK organization The Shark Trust, told CNN the Deep Blue sighting in Hawaii was "incredibly exciting."
He added: "If Deep Blue does prove to be pregnant, this is even more significant."
"While white shark sightings are rare in Hawaii, satellite tagging shows they make annual migrations from the Californian coast to the middle of the Pacific each winter -- including Hawaii," Richardson said. "While males return to Californian waters, female white sharks often appear to remain offshore."
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources released a statement earlier this week which said the whale carcass the sharks had been feeding on was attracting too many carnivores so it was moved further offshore.
The notice said tiger sharks were "almost continuously" feeding on the whale and it was aware of Ramsey's photos.
The agency's Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Chief Jason Redull said people should stay out of the water near the carcass.
"We don't want anyone to get hurt if a shark swimming around the carcass mistakes them as food. Understandably, some people want to get into the water either out of fascination or to get photographs, but it is truly dangerous to be around this carcass with so much shark activity," he said.
The state government also said it was investigating reports of people who climbed on top of the whale carcass to remove its teeth, which would be a violation of state and federal laws.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Caleb Jones
