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Home / New Zealand

Watch: Incredible footage of biggest great white shark on record encounter in Hawaii

NZ Herald
20 Jan, 2019 02:16 AM4 mins to read

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In case you missed it: This was one of the Herald's top stories on social media this week.

If this isn't the most beautiful video you see today, you might actually be impossible to please.

A team of researchers and conservationists filmed their stunning encounter with a great white shark off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii.

The team has decided not to disclose the location, for public safety, but shared the incredible moment they were so close to the shark they could actually touch it.

The gentle giant kept tapping the boat. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving
The gentle giant kept tapping the boat. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving
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The friendly giant can be seen approaching the divers and their boat, while the team was out surveying the shark population in the area.

Great whites are extremely rare in Hawaii and the team said it was an "extremely special" day for everyone involved.

So close. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving
So close. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving

"This individual may be one of the largest recorded and bears similar markings to 'Deep Blue', a shark I've studied in Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, where I've done most of my work with white sharks," researcher Ocean Ramsey said.

"This gentle giant swam up and brushed up against our boat repeatedly. There is a theory that large females come here when they are possibly pregnant trailing whales."

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View this post on Instagram

@oceanramsey gently guides one of the largest documented #GreatWhiteSharks away from our @oneoceandiving shark research boat in #HAWAII #Oahu The first great white shark I ever swam with was in 2005 off my home #Haleiwa with a similarly large great #whiteshark who also rocked the boat I was on at the time working with sharks. I guess I am lucky that history repeats and not much has changed which made me confident but not complacent during this encounter but what has changed is shark populations are severely declining but for the first time ever I’ve seen this huge shift in perception in the last 5 years mostly due to imagery and the work that @oceanramsey and the team at #oneoceandiving and @oneoceandiving program and conservation and research division does (with people like @mermaid_kayleigh and @forrest.in.focus ). I hope my conservation images like this help people to question their perceptions and realize the beauty, and importance of sharks and I hope that they inspire the kind of compassion and connection we need to have with nature and sharks, to help protect them and #coexist along side them. You don’t have to love them but they do need to exist, they are absolutely critical for the health of marine ecosystems which all life relies on. Yesterday I filled up 500gb with just photos so many more videos and photos to share from this incredible encounter that lasted al day. #grateful #helpsavesharks #savesharks #sharks #shark #discoversharks #greatwhiteshark #sealegacy #oneoceanconservation #greatwhiteshakhawaii #whitesharkhawaii

A post shared by Juan Oliphant #JuanSharks (@juansharks) on Jan 16, 2019 at 8:00am PST

"There was a dead sperm whale in the area and we did observe her swimming over to it and eating it on a regular basis throughout the day. This is sharks' role in the ecosystem, to pick off the dead, dying, weak, wounded, sick, injured, etc there by keeping lower prophic levels healthy and in balance," the researcher explained.

So close they could actually touch the shark. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving
So close they could actually touch the shark. Photo / @JuanSharks @OneOceanDiving

"Shark populations around Hawaii are unfortunately declining and there are currently no laws to protect sharks from being killed for any reason other than only for their fins," the One Ocean Diving team said.

"We study shark behaviour and we teach people how to avoid adverse interactions. Our research and work aims to help reduce shark related fatalities and educate others on the importance of sharks."

To keep up to date with the conservation work done by the researchers, follow oneoceandiving on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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