A batshit insane incredibly gutsy Kargoorlie-based filmmaker named Ash Gibb got himself into a rather intimate setting with an enormous shark recently, and lucky for us, he managed to film it.
And we’re not kidding when we say that this shark gets extremely bloody close. It almost gives Gibb a little smooch on the noggin. It is nearly close enough to give a cuddle. (But don’t – they don’t like that. Respect their personal space pls.)
Gibb told ABC that he was at Lucky Bay, 60km east of Esperance, when he felt the shark – which he now estimates to be a whopping 4 – 5 metres – bump into him:
“I dove down. I was in about five metres of water getting a great shot of this fish and I felt this massive thump from behind.Very quickly I saw the great white shoot into the picture.”
In the video, the shark circles in front of him, retreating twice but swimming back towards with a giant bloody grin on his/her face.
“At first I was quite excited. I thought, great, this is what I came for.The biggest thing for me was just focusing on my breathing. I didn’t want to show that I was scared.I reminded myself of my belief about sharks, which is the fact that they don’t eat humans on purpose. We’re not their food.I think that’s sort of what got me through a lot of nerves, because it was very intense. Even though I wanted to go and do that, it was a very testing situation.”
LOOK:
“Nup, bugger this. You’re no fun. I’m gonna do something else.”
“Awww, actually nah. You’re orrite. I’ll hang for a bit longer.”
“Dahhhhhhhhh-da. Daaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-da.”
“DA-DA. DA-DA. DA-DA. DA-DA. DA-DA! DA-DA! DA-DA! DA-DA!”
“Omg, did I scare you? I’m so sorry, I always accidentally do that. U OK?”
Watch the footage in its entirety below:
Gibb says that he stayed because he wants to show people the real beauty of sharks:
“I went there to show people that they [sharks] are beautiful creatures, so there was no chance of me fleeing that situation.I was there to film. I got the opportunity. The chances of that actually happening are one in a million, so I took that opportunity and did my best to keep my hand steady, and capture it on film.”
And the gutsy bloke says he’ll definitely be getting back in the water to spend more time with his New Best Friend™ and His Best Friend’s Cool Shark Mates™:
“I want to continue on filming. I’d love to see another great white. The bigger the better.”
Bloody beautiful.
Source: Ash Gibb / Sidetracked TV Multimedia Productions & ABC.
