Few of those who have seen Jaws can honestly say that they don’t secretly fear stumbling across a great white shark when surfing. But a fearless team of shark experts went searching for great whites and returned with footage of the largest ever great white shark caught on tape.
The massive specimen is believed to measure more than 20 feet in length and was named Deep Blue. Back in August, the enormous predator was featured in a documentary that was aired on Discovery Channel. Deep Blue received a tag and was filmed swimming together with one of the researchers involved in the project, Mauricio Hoyos Padilla.
Because of the geotag that researchers placed on Deep Blue, they were led to a colony of elephant seals.
But recently, Padilla discovered additional footage of the wondrous event.
Deep Blue is believed to be at least fifty years old and is seen swimming slowly above and around a roofless diving cage. The great white is even seen high-fiving the diver while slowly swimming around him. Mauricio is even daring enough to leave the safety of the diving cage and get closer to Deep Blue.
At the time of the footage, Deep Blue was not only pregnant but heavily scarred. Such scars, the documentary’s narrator explains, may arise during mating season (as a result of fights or mating itself).
Apart from a large hole that Deep Blue had on her right trunk, the great white shark had vertical slashes on her flank and scrapes on her dorsal fin and tail.
Since being posted on Tuesday, Mauricio Hoyos Padilla’s video gathered more than 3 million views and 42,000 shares.
Enthusiasts and divers keen on seeing great white sharks in their natural habitat travel to Guadalupe. But the predatory fish typically only reach lengths of 15 feet. Deep Blue is an exception, as only a distinct few exceed 20 feet in length and 5,000 pounds.
Image Source: The Mirror
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