SHARK ATTACK Caught on Camera! | Shark Week | Discovery - YouTube

Yeah. Keep going.

Oh, we are getting something, Jake.

Okay. Jimmy wanted to get in this clear polycarbonate cage to observe the sharks.

It was very low impact for the sharks, and he was determined to use this cage to get

very close to these animals.

Oh, you got it.

Driving a car for the first time.

It's all right, Jimmy.

Being Jimmy, the guy is pretty fearless.

He goes ahead and hops inside that thing.

It's pretty good, actually. Jeff.

Yeah. Thanks.

Jimmy knows the risks of working with big, great white sharks.

Right below you. Right below you.

Oh, that's a great shot.

Anyone who works with them knows the risks.

Just keep calling them out, you know?

I think it's working, Matt.

I really do.

It's pretty monotonous for, I'd say about, what, 45 minutes to an hour?

I think they like my feet.

They like it. It's exactly where he went for.

Next thing you know. It all happened.

So there's a shark here.

I give this 5 or 10 minutes.

The same date and they're coming up and hitting.

I've already had two bumps now that have been pretty deliberate.

They look like they're getting a little.

Bit more fired up.

What was that?

Ashok.

Hold on.

The first thing that went through my mind was he's a goner.

We didn't know if Jimmy had been hit by the shark.

I've been working with sharks for 30 plus years, and I've never seen anything like that

shark that big, probably 15, 16ft hits a guy going full steam.

I think.

It's over.

It hit you?

Yeah. Just let me get my breath.

Holy.

Yeah. Now Jimmie being Jimmie, somehow he was able to avoid the shark's teeth.

It is just a miracle what happened because the shark basically was taken at Chomp.

Technically, the Plexiglas saved Jimmy's life.

I feel like the bottom of the cage, you know, kept me safe.

And I went with the bottom of the cage and the shark went away from me.

Thankfully, all I saw then was the big tail.

When it was then going back down into the water.

My initial response was just hold on to the thing.

And then I was like, Get your head in the water.

See where the shark is.

And that's when I swam. I think he realized that he'd made a mistake and was thankfully

garnered, gave me enough time to get back to the boat.

So. Please smash the thing in.

It's unbelievable that I even got a scratch on me.

Insane. I mean, pretty much a breach, you know, first ever person to ever have a breach

on them and be able to survive and tell the tale is unbelievable.

I mean.

The animal gave a number of warnings.

It was very cautious in the beginning.

And as it became more bold, it started bumping the box.

Initially what happened is I felt a bump and I actually shouted up to the boat, Was that a

shark? So I wasn't quite sure.

And I felt this kind of jerk.

It must have been a trial run for the shark or they were testing it out.

You know, the shark was doing that, that first bump.

And then he decided to really go for it the second time.

This behavior has been observed many, many times along the Pacific Coast and other areas

worldwide where sharks will perceive something to be a threat and will

aggressively go after it.

That's when it came up and it rammed the box, which is a behavior to drive that object

away. This validates something I have suspected for more than 40 years, that the

behaviors of these sharks are not all predatory.

The majority of the attacks by white sharks on humans are investigation and or

displacement defending a territory.

Jimmy's case is very unique in that fortunately he was not hurt.

Some of that has to do with his ability in the water and his knowledge.

A lot of it had to do with luck.

It's something you don't want to try at home.

But we were all so grateful that the shark wasn't injured either.

There were no cuts, no abrasions.

So both escaped injury free.

And fortunately there was a camera in the water filming.

So we had the opportunity to see exactly what the shark did, which tells us why it did

it. It gave science, those of us that study white sharks a fantastic opportunity.

To see what.

These animals do under certain circumstances.

I love all wildlife and I knew the risks involved.

I chose to put myself in that position no matter what happened.

I was never, ever going to blame the animal for the shark.

It was just an ordinary day.

But for me, it was a day that will stay with me for the rest of my life.