Every time I saw one of those cages that are used to allow people to see the great white sharks in their own environment I've always felt a mix of adrenaline and fear, it should be absolutely fantastic but also scaring as hell... well, after seeing this footage from a 2007 accident, I've finally decided: Cage Diving is not for me!
Read here what happened in the words of the protagonist, cameraman Patrick Walsh:

"A 2 ton, 15 foot Great White barrels into my cage and brakes through the bars... Patrick Walsh - Filming
Paul Damgaard - Avoiding Sharks Mouth
CC - The Shark
"On November 4th we had an incident that was pretty darned exciting. CC, or Cut Caudal, one of our regular sharks, accidentally ran into one of the main cages on the Searcher. CC came up nearly vertical about 20 feet away from the cage and grabbed one of the hang baits, which he is known to do on a regular basis. However, on this particular day he swam right into the portside cage's viewing window. As CC took the bait he instinctively rolled his eyes back, couldn't see where he was going and accidentally swam directly into the viewing window. CC's entire head went inside the cage and he was stopped just short of his pectoral fins. Well, we all know that white sharks have no reverse and CC was too far in to turn around. He tried to turn, but he could not quite get his snout to clear the corner. He rolled on his side and began to thrash up and down trying to free himself. Being a rather large white shark he just ended up making the opening bigger by simply removing the front of the cage so he could get out of the cage. CC literally removed all the lower front vertical bars and the horizontal bar that connects all of the vertical bars to the main frame of the front cage panel and then swam away. What was amazing is that it took only about 10 seconds to do this. What was even more amazing was that there were 2 divers in the cage at the time and they thought that this was the coolest thing they had ever experienced and walked away completely unscathed. The divers also said that CC was just fine too!
We were all very relieved that no one was injured. We were also pleased that our divers listened to the safety briefing prior to diving and followed the instructions and evacuated the cage when this incident occurred. One diver utilized the emergency escape hatch and somehow managed to film the entire event. We learned something from this and we will take appropriate measures to prevent this from happening again.
When we said, "You can get face-to-face with the ultimate predator" this is not what we had in mind!"

Comments

5 Response to 'When a Great White Shark enter the cage that should protect you'

  1. Daniel
    https://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-great-white-shark-enter-cage-that.html?showComment=1288837066233#c156057688937428317'> November 4, 2010 at 3:17 AM

    Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd be canceling my future dives, from that point on...

    Awesome footage.

     

  2. Bolithio
    https://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-great-white-shark-enter-cage-that.html?showComment=1288880334065#c8378855851563416400'> November 4, 2010 at 3:18 PM

    OMG Im with you, Cage Diving is not for me!!!

     

  3. Great White Adventures aka Shark Diving International
    https://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-great-white-shark-enter-cage-that.html?showComment=1288884755148#c1300442503272647360'> November 4, 2010 at 4:32 PM

    This video is a just one in an ongoing series of cage breaches with protected white sharks slamming full speed into cages at Isla Guadalupe by Shark Diving International aka Great White Adventures over the past 5 years.

    CEO Lawrence Groth often tells people he has has a few mistakes at this island but also claims a 100% safety record.

    Here are other cage breaches attributed to his company.

    2004
    http://www.underwatertimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714&highlight=cage+breach+guadalupe

    2007
    http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=IeccSmL8qIo

    2010 0.20 Shark smashing face in cage

    http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=uDALBx3ABWM&feature=related

     

  4. Guido Trombetta
    https://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-great-white-shark-enter-cage-that.html?showComment=1288887556706#c3395439654627357531'> November 4, 2010 at 5:19 PM

    Thank you for the links!

     

  5. Jenna Schrock
    https://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-great-white-shark-enter-cage-that.html?showComment=1298793737691#c4456821797960625254'> February 27, 2011 at 9:02 AM

    I find the last lines quite humorous though but that sure is some scary experience. If I was the one in there, my skin would probably start whitening as I slowly pass out underwater! Luckily, those teeth will be the last thing I'll see while swimming on the pools of Los Angeles!