Now this is enough to put you off ‘swimming with sharks’
‘Swimming with sharks’ is one of those activities that seems like absolute insanity to some people but an absolute bucket list thing for others.
But this chilling coincidence might be enough to put anyone enough as a great white shark’s head got stuck in the cage where a diver was hiding.
In August 2016, Craig Capehart was part of a team of six divers taking part in a 16-day SCUBA diving trip to check on the health of the reefs and sea life in the Solomon Islands.
And when they were about 114 feet deep in the waters of Mborokua Island, they came across a gray reef shark which was missing its entire right pectoral fin.
But things very nearly went horribly wrong when a big shark broke into one of the cages.
And what makes it more chilling though, is that it happened in the same place – the same cage in fact – as another similar incident.
Capehart said: “Back in August I was diving with Great White Sharks in the Pacific Ocean at Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico when one got into the cage, struggled, then escaped!
It comes straight at the cage (Craig Capehart via Storyful)
“Neither those of us in the cage nor the shark were injured. It was the most frightening thing that has ever happened to me!”
And scarily, he went on to add: “This event happened in the same cage, same boat, same location as the video of a great white shark getting into a cage then escaping out the top.”
Capehart is on about a video that did the rounds of a great white approaching a cage which held diver Ming Chang.
A piece of bait was being dangled near the cage and as the shark absolutely went for it, it ended up making its way inside.
Chang recalled being pushed to the bottom of the cage while the shark thrashed about.
Creepy (Craig Capehart via Storyful))
Luckily though, the dive company managed to open the top hatch and the shark escaped before any harm was caused.
Mexico Daily News reports that incident is being investigated by regulators.
That’s because allegations were made over the bait being thrown incorrectly, resulting in both the divers and shark being put at unnecessary risk.
A diver who previously got too close to a Great White Shark almost paid the price.
Viral videos showed the diver laying in a Plexiglas box as a shark charged the cage.He just about managed to scramble away as viewers couldn’t believe he didn’t leave earlier.
Terrifying moment diver suffers near-death experience when great white shark smashes through his cage
Might be worth staying close to the shore next time you’re at the beach
A diver came close to death after a great white shark burst into his cage while recording a documentary.
Most of us are well aware of the risks of encountering dangerous animals when swimming off the coast of idyllic beaches.
While most of us would shy away from putting ourselves within the jaws of death, there’s always a brave soul who willing to put themselves in harm’s way – all in the name of discovery.
This is the exact situation that expert shark diver Jimi Partington found himself in when filming a particularly risky research stunt for Discovery documentary Great White Open Ocean.
Originally released in 2022, the doc follows Partington’s journey back into the ocean after a near death experience in 2020 – however the diver’s research quickly led him into another death defying situation.
For the experiment, Partington wanted to test out a theory that great whites are more aggressive in the ocean – and decided to test it out by lying in the sea in a plexiglass box.
“Jimi had this theory that great whites might be more aggressive offshore, where their food sources are scarce,” Shark Week filmmaker Jeff Kurr of the experiment.
“And to prove his theory, he actually wanted to jump in with a Great White shark in open ocean.”
Animal behaviourist Brandon McMillan, who Partington was shooting the documentary with, recalled that the experiment was pretty ‘monotonous’ for around an hour before the terrifying encounter went down.
The moment the shark pounced. (Discovery Channel)
In the clip Partington can be seen nervously observing the shark as it swam close to the cage and ‘deliberately’ hitting the sides.
“I’ve already had two bumps now that have been pretty deliberate,” he said, observing their behaviour.
“They look like they’re getting a little bit more fired up.”
The shark then charged towards the cage and clamped down on the plexiglass, crunching it apart with its razor sharp teeth.
Partington was left panicked by the situation, scrambling onto the remains of the cage before making a beeline for the boat.
Miraculously, the diver managed to walk away from the encounter without any physical injuries – but was left with PTSD in the following months.
Revealing how the attack had left him shaken up, Partington said he had experienced ‘every emotion’, while McMillan added the diver had told him he’d had ‘nightmares’ of the incident.
Partington wanted to examine whether great whites would be more aggressive further out to sea. (Discovery Channel)
However, Partington remained spurred on by his love for the apex predator, adding that he was happy to take risks in order to ‘push the boundaries of our shark knowledge’.
PTSD and near death experiences with sharks aren’t the only setbacks Partington has faced other the years either, with the diver’s last post on Instagram, shared back in August 2022, detailing that he was still in recovery after suffering a stroke.
