There’s a lot of wow factor going on here… Watch this all the way to the end!
In the words of the man behind the camera in this video, Tim Van Beelen:
‘This is what happens when you get in the way of a tiger shark and his dinner! After finding an usual behaved tiger on the flats the other day I did the same thing anyone would and jumped in to have a look, a punter gave me his camera to get some photos although I didn’t really know how to use it, luckily I had my trusty #gopro on me head so I jumped in to find this juvenile tiger was hunting a turtle and started getting some snaps, I was aware of the situation I had put myself in and knew I had to keep my distance to avoid interfering with nature, what happened next I defiantly did not expect and will never forget!!!
I came away from this experience with a lot of thoughts but have not grown any fear, if anything a ton more respect for these amazing animals. Tiger sharks are not hunters they are scavengers, basically the garbage truck of the ocean, they only target sick or wounded prey and as you can see here do not attack with much aggression. They are not the shark the media makes them out to be, they are very placid and generally avoid any contact with us. This was not an attack it was simply a warning to get away from his food, you can see how slowly the shark swims up and doesn’t even attempt to bite me, if he wanted me he would’ve had me plain and simple. Please respect not hate sharks they cop way to much bad publicity but it’s all from people who don’t understand and probably have never even been snorkelling let alone swam with a one!!! ‘
