That’s about as close as you can get to a great white. Photo: 9 News // YouTube
There’s only one thing more chilling than seeing the dorsal fin of a great white cutting through the water near you: coming face to face with the entire beast. An Australian man had just that experience last week, when he encountered one of the ocean giants while spearfishing. And he caught the whole thing on video.
The incident went down on the afternoon of July 8, in the waters off Maroubra, near Sydney. The man, identified only as Dean, told 9 News Australia that he had been spearfishing when an eight-foot-long great white shark was attracted to his catch. What ensued was a three and a half minute long faceoff between man and beast.
“It was a mixture of feelings, fear, admiration; like, such a beautiful creature,” Dean told 9 News. “Just sorta went into survival mode in terms of how I was going to behave.”
Rather than flee, Dean decided to face the shark head on. “I duck-dived at that point and swam straight at it, just hoping that it was going to turn and it did. It turned broadside,” he explained. He then brandished his spear, hoping it would deter the animal. It did not.
“It didn’t even phase her,” he said. “She just kept kicking.”
However, when the shark came for another pass, he jammed the speargun directly into its nose, which finally did the trick. The shark turned away and gave Dean time to make a beeline for dry land. In the video he took of the encounter, his relief is palpable.
“Still got the heart pumping,” he narrates to camera. “Surprisingly I stayed really calm, just sort of kept my eyes on it. The only time I freaked out was when I couldn’t see it anymore.”
