Oceanic Whitetip Shark Bites Diver

LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT. Narrator: THIS VIDEO WAS SHOT IN 2014 OFF HAWAII. A GROUP OF SNORKELERS FILM A POD OF PILOT WHALES, AND AN OCEANIC WHITE TIP SUDDENLY APPEARS NEARBY. THE SHARK KEEPS HIS DISTANCE AND THEN SWIMS AWAY. SUDDENLY IT REAPPEARS AND MAKES A MUCH CLOSER PASS BY THE GROUP, SHOWING THE SAME PROBING BEHAVIOR MICHAEL AND BARRY OBSERVED IN THE BAHAMAS. THINKING THAT THE WHITE TIP HAS FINALLY LEFT, THE GROUP RETURNS THEIR ATTENTION TO THE PILOT WHALES. -OW! -OW! OOH! THAT IS A REAL BITE. Narrator: THIS ATTACK HAPPENED FAST. THE WHITE TIP SUDDENLY REAPPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE... WENT STRAIGHT AT ONE OF THE DIVERS AND BIT HIM. THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. THE DIVER ESCAPED WITH ONLY MINOR LACERATIONS. RIGHT IN THE SHOULDER. MAN, THAT THING WAS FIRED UP. IT'S AMAZING HOW HE JUST CAME RIGHT IN. THAT GUY, LIKE, DOVE DOWN. I'M GUESSING HE WANTED TO TAKE A PICTURE. AND IT STIMULATED THAT SHARK TO COME. SO IT'S HARD TO PUT OURSELVES IN THE MIND OF THAT SHARK AND WHAT THE MOTIVATION WAS. LOOK, I THINK THERE'S A DANGER IN OVERTHINKING THIS STUFF BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT. YOU CANNOT BE IN THE INSIDE OF THE MINDS OF THESE ANIMALS. AND THAT'S AN INTERESTING ENCOUNTER. A LITTLE UNSETTLING NOW THAT -- YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABOUT TO HOP IN THE WATER WITH THESE THINGS.

Channel: Discovery

Views: 5,148,770

Rating: 4.6691341 out of 5

Keywords: Shark Week, nature documentary, shark documentaries, shark tv shows, oceanic whitetip, shark attacks, whitetip attacks, hawaiian sharks, pilot whales, discovery channel, shark week 2016

Id: WkF7yW4oaDU

Length: 1min 51sec (111 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 30 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Sharks are ambush predators and those snorkelers made the capital mistake of refocusing their attention on those whales.

I've dived with tons of sharks over the years, and many will check you out for a bit by doing "flybys" or circling you for a bit. If they notice you are totally focused on them and aware of their presence, they tend to just disappear into the blue...which means you should still keep an eye out, because it might come at you from behind.

Cliff notes: Seriously, don't focus on whales if sharks are around. Don't look unaware of the shark.

[u/obi-multiple-kenobi]

This shark was acting exactly how a shark that's going to attack you will act. Pec fins dropped, rigid body, direct/straight investigations, nervous swimming. They should've gotten out as soon as they witnessed any of this behavior

[u/babylon_dude]

Details of a very famous Oceanic Whitetip shark attack posted on another thread by u/BKA_Diver.

[u/nataliekparra]

So coincidental, I was just talking to a friend about this clip today. I'm by no means an expert on shark behavior, but I have been lucky enough to get to spend a lot of time free diving with sharks in Hawaii with local researchers. The moment this diver dips below this shark as it's swimming towards him I seriously said oh no out loud before the bite happened. That's the absolute last thing you would want to do in this situation, especially when that shark is clearing agitated, pec fins down and darting at them repeatedly. Never take your eyes off a shark acting like that, let alone dive submissively below it. Also, it's a pretty known fact around divers out here that if you see pilot whales there's almost always an oceanic white tip trailing behind them so I don't know why they dramatized that like it appeared out of nowhere. It's pretty gross how Discovery Channel uses clips like these to fear monger for views and advertisements. Come on peeps. Sharks need all the help they can get right now. This portrayal isn't helping.

[u/nataliekparra]

"Appeared out of nowhere" in 100ft+ visibility -__________________-

[u/Lizzardtong]

out of all the sharks still alive, Whitetips are the ones where i would bail outta the water the moment i spot one, from what I've heard about them, i ain't risking anything. i rather swim along a bullshark than be anywhere near a whitetip.

[u/thecarl123]

One of the species I’m truly afraid of. Long distance pelagic migrations are no joke.

[u/PinguRambo]

So you mean the sharks that is allegedly responsible for the biggest amount of human death is dangerous?

WHO COULD HAVE GUESS?

Seriously there are shark with whom you should never fuck with.

[u/XxCALBRAxX]

you know whats crazy, these sharks actually travel WITH pilot whales, apparently from a website i just read they actually dive up to 900 m or so with them and the echolocation helps them find prey like squid. an odd friendship and i feel like the sharks were attacking to defend the pod of pilot whales.