Giant great white shark swims with Hawaii divers

In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo provided by Juan Oliphant, Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and advocate, swims with a large great white shark off the shore of Oahu. Picture: Juan Oliphant via AP

In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo provided by Juan Oliphant, Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and advocate, swims with a large great white shark off the shore of Oahu. Picture: Juan Oliphant via AP

Published Jan 20, 2019

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Divers in Hawaii were watching a school

of tiger sharks feast on a dead whale on Tuesday when a much

bigger fish appeared out of the depths.

A 20-foot-long great white shark, believed to be one of the

largest in the world, swam right at the divers then began to

check out their boats, said Ocean Ramsey, one of the marine

biologists in the water at the time.

The great white in question is named Deep Blue and has been

videoed before. In fact, the 50-year-old female has made such a

name for herself itself in the world of marine biology she even

has her own Twitter account.

"Deep Blue came up and brushed up against the boat, maybe

she's pregnant, maybe she's itchy?" Ramsey wrote on Instagram.

"We spent the entire day with her till the sun went down."

Ramsey, a shark conservationist, posted pictures and video

of the encounter to show great whites are not "mindless

monsters."

View this post on Instagram

#Jaws was a fictitious film whose poster kind of looks like this, so this is my effort at an Anti-Jaws type media piece @savingjawsmovie . I’ve been swimming with sharks my whole life and working professionally with them for over 15 years. There’s a challenge I have in my efforts, to find a balance between helping people to overcome their fear of sharks that often stems for fictitious demonizing media and instilling a healthy level of respect for sharks as very capable apex predators #ApexPredatorNotMonster not puppy (cause if you pet puppies often even puppies bite, actually a lot ;)). Having worked with sharks for so long I can fully appreciate what they are capable of because I have been rushed by sharks and had to deter them and I have had to leave the water and I have watched them actively predate and compete for space and have confrontations.  However, I’ve also had the most incredible moments of my life in the water with them where 99.9% of the time they cruise gracefully around and so long as I keep looking around and pay attention constantly and quietly and give respect and attention to the more dominant individuals and challenging juveniles on a CONSTANT bases I am treated as more or less an equal predator.  Never complacent, always respectful and adapting at every second to every movement. I reached the point long ago where I dedicated my life to conservation and I love it, I love educating people about sharks and introducing them to them in a professional guided situation through the program I co-founded @oneoceandiving where we also collect data @oneoceanresearch @oneoceansharks and help support conservation through @Oneoceanconservation and @OneoceanEducation and @Oneoceanglobal @Waterinspired @oneoceanhawaii and other with funds from @oneoceandesigns and diving I love studying shark behavior and body language and its an absolute pleasure to share that with people and help them to better appreciate sharks and I hope inspire them to help save them.  Check out http://HelpSaveSharks.Org for more ways to get involved. #Aloha #hawaii #greatWhiteHawaii #SaveTheOcean #ocean #discoversharks #oneoceanconservation #OneOceanDiving PHOTO CREDIT @juansharks ❤️

A post shared by Ocean Ramsey #OceanRamsey(@oceanramsey) on Jan 18, 2019 at 2:14am PST

"We need sharks and yet, perhaps because of the negative and

inaccurate way they are portrayed in mass media many people do

not care that they are being killed at a rate of

70,000,000-100,000,000 every year!" she said, criticizing the

mass slaughter of the creatures to make shark-fin soup.

The great white is uncommon in Hawaii's warm waters, but

hunger could have driven Deep Blue out of her comfort zone,

Ramsey said.

Picture: Juan Oliphant via AP

The rotting whale carcass off the coast of Oahu has drawn

packs of divers keen to see the sea life it attracts, but state

wildlife officials have warned on Facebook for them to stay away

lest sharks mistake them for food. 

Reuters

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