Great White Shark Cage Breach Accident

Some people akin swimming with sharks to thrill rides. Particularly if one is getting up close and personal with the top predator of the open water: the Great White. Obviously, it is not the brightest idea to be swimming alongside the fearsome predator and so, a shark cage is the safest way to go, or is it? As young YouTuber Gabe and Garrett’s dad can tell you, shark cage is not as safe as you think. During a trip to Guadalupe Island, the father of two caught on camera a spectacular incident of a Great White breaching the cage while a diver was inside.

Fortunately, no one was harmed in this incident, though the shark did sustain some non-life threatening injuries when it broke into the shark cage. According to Gabe and Garrett’s dad, it wasn’t an aggression by the Great White; they (the sharks) are not as dangerous as they are thought to be, well, except when they are stupidly hungry, probably. But neither are they docile animals which you can pat like a dog or cat; they are, after all, beasts and so, don’t go diving into shark infested waters and thinking you could get away with it. Anywho, here’s how the entire accident unfold according to Gabe and Garrett’s dad:

“On a recent great white shark cage diving trip we experienced a very rare event, a shark breaching the side of the cage. What might appear to be an aggressive great white shark trying to attack the cage, this is not the case. These awesome sharks are biting at large chunks of tuna tied to a rope. When a great white shark lunges and bites something, it is temporarily blinded. They also cannot swim backwards. So this shark lunged at the bait, accidentally hit the side of the cage, was most likely confused and not able to swim backwards, it thrust forward and broke the metal rail of the cage. There was a single diver inside the cage…

He ended up outside the bottom of the cage, looking down on two great white sharks. The diver is a very experienced dive instructor, remained calm, and when the shark thrashed back outside the cage, the diver calmly swam back up and climbed out completely uninjured. The boat crew did an outstanding job, lifting the top of the cage, analyzing the frenzied situation, and the shark was out after a few long seconds.”

Unfortunately, the diver in the cage, who had a camera with him at the time of the incident, wasn’t recording. So, this incredible and rare incident did not manage to get a POV recording. Anyways, shark cage, if you don’t already know, was invented by Rodney Fox in the 60s with the desire to capture the majestic creature without risking his live and those of and his crews. Rodney, btw, was a brutal shark attack victim himself and the cage was said to be inspired a visit to the Adelaide Zoo.

We are not sure the variation of the shark cage used in this situation, but this shark cage incident is hardly the first. Apparently, a 18 feet Great White shark did bit through the bars of a shark cage back in 2005 and in 2007, also off the coast of Guadalupe Island, a 15 feet great white shark found itself stuck in one of these cages and managed to destroy part of the cage while trying to free itself from the entanglement. Fortunately, no one was hurt in both incidents.

The morale of the story is: no do mess with nature and make sure the cages are built to high standards, or better yet, just leave the damn sharks alone and stop turning them into a tourist attraction. Keep going for the footage of the incident.

Images: screengrab from YouTube video.

Credit goes to Gabe and Garrett