Shark tries to take a bite out of camera man's head

August 2024 · 3 minute read

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The camera was about to get an extra “mega-bite.”

A UK diver is perhaps lucky to have a head after a massive great white shark took a chomp at a GoPro just inches from his face while he was swimming in South Africa.

POV footage of the Jaws-dropping moment is currently making waves online.

“People seem to love the clip,” Mark Graham, 31, told Media Drum World of his seemingly near-decapitation, which occurred while the videographer was diving in Klein Brak, Mossel Bay.

The Brit, who is part of the Great White Shark Cage Diving Crew tour, was reportedly in the water with a GoPro Hero on his head when he spotted the shark circling his boat.

Graham said the great white — which is the world’s largest predatory fish, growing to 20-feet long and weighing more than 5,000 pounds — was “super inquisitive” about the recording device atop his noggin and swam closer to investigate.

“Their electro receptors can pick up the GoPro so they get super curious and come in close to investigate,” said Graham.

The great white rockets towards Mark Graham. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean
“I think when it gently bumps the camera at the end people get a little freaked out,” said Graham of a moment in which the inside of the shark’s mouth is visible. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean
Mark Graham. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean

The footage shows the toothy titan cruising through the gloom, when, all of a sudden it turns and makes a beeline for the cameraman.

The beast approaches slowly until it’s mere inches from Graham’s face, whereupon Jaws opens its pink maw and mouths the camera, giving viewer’s a literal “fish-eye” lens of the mouth.

Despite seemingly being nearly in the belly of the beast, the shark enthusiast said he wasn’t afraid as the great white meant him no harm.

“It was an incredibly gentle interaction from the shark,” declared Graham. “It was just trying to figure out what the strange electrical thingy in the water was.”

He said people got “freaked out” because of how it bumped the camera.

The shark diver said he’s grateful for the experience, gushing: “Having such a personal and gentle interaction with such a big animal felt extremely captivating.”

Great whites can grow to 20 feet long and 5,000 pounds. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean
The shark went for a GoPro camera. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean
“It was an incredibly gentle interaction from the shark,” said Graham. mediadrumimages/White Shark Ocean

Ultimately, Graham hopes that these up-close encounters will help dispel the stereotype of the great white as a man-eating monster.

“I think humans have an instinctive fear of what they can’t see and don’t understand,” he said in May following a similar face-to-face experience with one of the predators. “If you get the chance to see them in the wild, go and see them, I guarantee your perception will change.”

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