Scientist Nearly Jumps Into A Shark’s Mouth While Snorkeling In Hawaii
Ever since the movie Jaws came out, people around the world have been concerned about getting in the water.
Although we know that statistically, we are unlikely to get bitten by a shark, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is impossible so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Even though that is true, there are some people who are fearless when it comes to jumping in the water. That includes a scientist who is based in Hawaii and she almost took a leap before looking that she would have regretted.
Ocean Ramsey is the woman in the video. She operates One Ocean Diving, based out of Oahu and she describes it in this way on Instagram:
“Moments after the video I shared in my last post I saw a shark bumping some floating plastic so I rushed in and this was my greeting.”
It seems as if she was ready to jump off the back of the boat when suddenly, an unusual shape appeared in the water. As he got closer, it was clear to see that it was a tiger shark and the 35-year-old researcher was just about ready to jump right into his open mouth.
Fortunately, she saw what was going on and backed up quickly but not before the shark came out of the water and almost bit her flippers.
If she had jumped off of the boat just a moment earlier, she would have jumped right in front of the shark and undoubtedly would have been lunch.
Ramsey described how she was able to avoid the inevitable. She said that the shark basically gave her position away because she could see the white underbelly coming up from below.
She continued, saying, “She was actually easier to spot coming up vertical compared to the others already near the surface.”
Even though we see what we see in the video, she said on Instagram that the shark was not actually trying to attack her. She doesn’t think that the shark could see her any better than she could see the shark, and it was likely only reacting to the initial noise and shadow as she began to enter the water.
She also said that she has been swimming with that tiger shark for about three years without any problem. In the end, she said that the shark should be protected and we shouldn’t be in fear of them.
She summed things up by saying: “You can’t hate them for being predators. We need them for healthy marine ecosystems.”
