This footage was taken in August 2015 at Humpback Whale Carcass (See video here:    • Humpback Whale Carcass and Great Whit...  ) in Aliwal Shoal MPA. Last year we anchored a humpback carcass near the reef and, naturally, a number of predators came to feed, including a few great whites. It is quite rare for great whites to visit Aliwal Shoal so a few divers had the privilege of diving with these amazing predators. BUT one of the divers got too close to one of the great whites and tried to grab a hold of the large male's dorsal fin in a stupid attempted to ride the shark. The shark reacts by approaching the diver and letting him know that this is "his house".

Please also note the divers position in the water, first at approximatley 13m then all the way at the surface in less than a minute! The second thing you need to note is the exhalations and lack of inhalations, is the diver hyperventilating? In my opinion, this diver was not experienced enough to be diving with these animals. It was irresponsible of both himself and the charter that took him out.

Diving with a shark is a massive privilege, especially with a great white shark. This kind of diving should not be allowed. It is clear that it changed the shark's behaviour. No one would go and pull the whiskers of a lion - this is the exact same principle.The media loves to put the blame on the great whites but it seems the shark was more than generous with his approach to the diver.

Needless to say, the diver spent the rest of the dive on the boat... and probably had to clean out his wetsuit.

Check out Roxy's dive school for conservation-aware diving at Roxy's Scuba School (  / roxysscubaschool  )

Royalty Free Music: Keffy May, Restored Soul.

This footage belongs to Roxy Zunckel and for any use of the footage permission needs to be asked and an arrangement for raw files to be sent to you will be made.