Video footage shows the jaw-dropping moment a diver off the coast of Perth, Australia, found himself just inches from a massive 13-foot great white shark
In a harrowing experience that reads like a scene from Jaws Ryan, along with his diving partner Andy Nelson, had set out to catch crayfish around Coventry Reef, 34 miles south of Perth, when he encountered the deadly predator.
Ryan had been waiting outside a cave for his friend, who was deep underwater in search of crayfish.
Unaware of the looming danger, Andy was low on oxygen while the great white shark began circling above Ryan, who humorously recalled the Jaws theme creeping into his mind.
“‘Don, don, don, don’ just popped into my head,” Ryan told Australian media.
“Then I thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s Jaws,’ and the next moment I was bloody scared. But then I just thought, ‘I have to deal with this.’”
For a full five minutes, the shark repeatedly circled Ryan, at times coming so close he could have reached out to touch it.
“It was making passes at me for what felt like forever,” he added.
Only when Andy finally surfaced from the cave did the shark swim away, seemingly put off by the presence of two divers.
But the frightening encounter didn’t end there; low on oxygen and needing to make it back to the boat, Ryan anxiously swam through the open water, constantly looking back to check if the shark was following.
“The adrenaline really kicked in because that’s their whole gig—they come in from behind, out of nowhere,” he said.
“It’s the one you don’t see that gets you.”
Once safely back on the boat, the two divers laughed in a mix of relief and disbelief.
“It took us a good half-hour to get our heart rates and breathing back to normal,” Ryan said, adding that his friend had no idea he’d been circling the shark for the entire time.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Ryan shared his survival tips for anyone who encounters a shark.
Avoid splashing or sudden movements that might attract the animal, maintain eye contact, stay vertical, and, most importantly, try to keep calm.
