Sharks are some of the most dangerous animals in the ocean but sometimes they need our help too. Since sharks pose a danger to humans in the water, they have been demonized and treated with the utmost disrespect.
Because of this disdain, people have hunted sharks with abandon, but this onslaught has left many sharks maimed and permanently scarred, often with hooks stuck in their jaws. If we were diving underwater and saw a shark with a hook stuck in its mouth, our only thought would be ‘poor shark’ but one particular freediver had a different reaction.
A video was just posted by Barcroft TV showing freediver Michael Dornellas having a very intimate encounter with a grey reef shark in Jupiter Florida. Through some form of freediver trickery or what we can only describe as ‘Shark Whispering’, Dornellas engages with the shark, handling it enough to roll it onto its back.
In this position sharks go into a trance like state, and it is during this relaxed state of the shark that Dornellas was able to pull out the large, sizable steel hook using only his bare hand. This kind of wild animal encounter falls squarely within ‘don’t try this at home’ territory, but we’re just glad this altruistic gesture between a human and a shark was captured on video camera. [Good News]
