Cape Town - A Gansbaai company has reduced the size of its shark cage viewing gap by 10 percent after a great white managed to ram its head into a safety cage holding a group of tourists.
The video shot by Bryan Plummer went viral on YouTube as it shows his Canadian friends’ close encounter while shark-cage diving with Great White Shark Tours in Gansbaai on Thursday. The 25-second clip shows a 2.5m great white swim past the bait placed metres from the safety cage. The shark swims up to the cage and attempts to ram its head into the viewing gap of the safety cage.
A diver closest to the shark moved away quickly as the shark thrashed about for about five seconds, its gaping jaws caught on camera.
A voice can be heard shouting “stand back” as the shark retreats.
On Friday, Plummer posted on his Facebook page: “Just after my first dive, I captured this on film… as a great white enters the shark cage. SOOOO lucky no one was hurt. This was terrifying to watch.”
Great White Shark Tours general manager Greg Donald said although there were no injuries, the company reported the incident to authorities.
“The cage is built to industry standards and is inspected every year. Since the incident, the viewing (gap in the) cage has been reduced by 10 percent to… 45cm, the lowest in the industry. The incident was reported to the Great White Shark Protection Foundation, of which we are members.”
Donald said it was the first time a shark had reacted in this way in the 18 years since the company was launched.
“The shark wasn’t lured to do that in any manner. It did that on its own and we don’t know why.
“There hasn’t been an incident like this before.”
Kim MacLean, the Great White Shark Protection Foundation chairwoman and Sharklady Adventure owner, said the incident was isolated and there was no immediate danger.
“(Great White Shark Tours) are a reputable company. It could’ve happened to anyone… our cages are safe.
“It’s clear in the video that the juvenile went up to the cage on its own.
“The shark could have swum fast towards the cage, causing its snout to go into the cage. Seconds later it was gone,” she said.
MacLean said the process was “safe” and the divers were not in serious danger.
Cape Times