NARRATOR: is a crazy picture.
That is a gigantic
great white shark.
And as we can clearly
see, the picture
was taken at really,
really close range.
Maybe too close.
My question is,
who took this photo
and how much danger
were they in?
The person on the other end
of the camera was this guy.
JOE BUTLER: Hi, my
name is Joe Butler
and I'm a recent graduate
of marine biology
and coastal ecology at
Plymouth University.
Originally from
Swindon, England,
I'm currently situated on
the west coast of Ireland
studying marine mammals.
This particular photo
was taken off of hand
by South Africa in the
late September of 2012.
We were in the area for
a university field course
looking at the
local biodiversity
and took the opportunity
to experience
some more charismatic sea
life we rarely get to see.
On the this particular day,
me and two of my friends,
Sam and Lizzie, went out
on the cage diving boat
into Shark Alley in hopes
of seeing some great whites.
NARRATOR: Great white sharks
are the biggest predatory
fish in the world.
And despite their mass, they
can travel at ridiculous speeds,
over 35 miles an hour,
to track their prey.
And then there's this trick.
This is what happened the
moment Joe took his photo.
JOE BUTLER: In order to bring
them in closer to give everyone
a good look, the crew
would employee a tuna head
on the end of a long rope
and drag it out of the way
before the shark had
the chance to grab it.
The photo itself, taking
from inside the cage,
shows the shark, having managed
to grab the bait before anyone
had a chance to react.
The end result is this powerful
image of it leaping out
of the water with it's prize.
If you look closely, you can
see the eyes have actually
rolled back into the
head, as they tend to do
when it exerts this behavior.
The feeling at the time,
you wouldn't really
describe it as being
nervous because you
were too busy being in awe
of what was in front of you.
It's one thing to see them on
say, like TV or photographs,
but to actually be with them
and see them in front of you
is an entirely
different experience.
It was actually quite
a sobering moment
when you realize that
proverbially, you're
the fish out of water here.
This is their home and
you're not actually
supposed to be there.
I think a lot of people have
this image in the heads of them
being sort of
idealistic predator,
but in reality, these animals
are still quite vulnerable.
However, seeing them in
their natural environment
is something I recommend
to anyone in a heart beat.
NARRATOR: Hey everyone,
Thanks for watching
"This Happened Here".
If you liked this
video, check out
this one on what
it's like to dive
into the middle of a
humpback whale fight.
SPEAKER 1: This is
an image moments
after this juvenile humpback
whale took a sharp turn
to avoid smashing into me.
NARRATOR: And don't
forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching.
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