Diver fights clear of shark's jaws

The Australian ^ | January 23, 2007 | Amy Coopes and Vincent Morelli

[Dundee]

I think this must be the only man in history to have had his entire head inside the mouth of a Great White and lived.

Just goes to prove that you should never give up.

[MARTIAL MONK]

A Great White swallowed my head and shoulders. If you see him, I want 'em back.

[LibWhacker]

Oh, yeah, that'd give you nightmares for a few weeks. Good thing he held onto that abalone chisel.

[The Duke]

[Vaquero]

"This fish....swaller ya' w(hole)....(and the rest of you too)"

[driftdiver]

plenty of motivation to dive where great whites don't live.

[jim35]

Whitetip doesn't want Aussies with good taste, they want Aussies that taste good...

[Flavius]

I always get a laugh from the "nature" shows and "experts" ,that giggle profusely when they describe the sharks as confused creatures, that only want to eat their own food.

Then in same breath they marvel at saying that sharks are scavengers of the sea.

So I always wanted to ask the geniuses which is it, are they gourmet eaters or just slobs that munch on anything...

[driftdiver]

"So I always wanted to ask the geniuses which is it, are they gourmet eaters or just slobs that munch on anything... "

They are animals who eat when they are hungry. The sharks I've come across underwater haven't bothered me in the least. Other than scaring me badly.

[Flavius]

its like a bullet, you don't hear the one that hits you

[DainBramage]

Maybe the Shark was just lookin for..... a mate.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

That shark was lacking in persistence.

[Drawsing]

Is that an abalone chisel in his hand?

[baltodog]

My kids got me the 25th Anniversary videotape several years back.

It had been years since I'd seen the movie...still my favorite.

The were all pumped up to see "the most terrifying movie I'd ever seen..."

When everything was said and done, they said it was the cheesiest thing ever...I'd have to agree, now that I'm in my forties.

But, man, was that ever scary when I was a young kid and my dad took my brother and I to see it.

[cweese]

No. It's a machete.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

I guess that happens to a great many scary movies over time. Special effects, etc. are amped up for the next generation(s).

I saw Jaws that year at a theater-owners' premiere. My friends couldn't understand my trepidation at the beach...until about two or three weeks later when they'd all seen it.

[PreciousLiberty]

"I think this must be the only man in history to have had his entire head inside the mouth of a Great White and lived."

I don't believe this was a great white...there is a white tip shark, which I think is being referred to here as a "white pointer". It was "only" 3 m long (a bit over 9 feet), much smaller than a large great white at over 7 m (and 2 tons).

I think the crush force from a large great white's jaws would kill you even if the teeth couldn't penetrate. I sure wouldn't want to test it one way or the other... ;-)

[Patrick1]

He's gonna need a bigger head.

[CARDINALRULES]

White Pointers are Great Whites.

It's just what the Aussies call them.

White Tip can refer to the Oceanic White Tip -a large shark that are usually in open sea and can be found around ship wrecks or can refer to some reef sharks that are usually smaller.

[driftdiver]

"its like a bullet, you don't hear the one that hits you"

Was doing a shore dive with my son looking for...fossilized sharks teeth of all things. We had surfaced and were discussing whether to keep looking or swim the 300yds back to shore. About that time my son says in an excited voice "I just saw a dorsal fin". We made pretty good time back to shore. The visibility was about 4 feet.