A Diver’s Extremely Close Visit With A Giant Deep Blue Creature Went Viral. Marine Biologists Say Don’t Copy Her



A great creature of the deep, believed to be one of the largest on the planet, has been spotted by divers as it fed on a whale carcass off the coast of Hawaii. What’s more, there is more than meets the eye with this great beast.

Creature Of The Blue


The divers, who captured remarkable footage of the encounter, say the creature approached the team’s boat to scratch herself and was accompanied by two “dancing” dolphins as she swam. Incredibly, the group got close enough to the shark as she passed, but that’s not all.



ADVERTISEMENT

Uncommon In These Waters


Dubbed Deep Blue, she is a 20-foot-long female. The creature is uncommon in Hawaii’s warm waters, but hunger drove Deep Blue out of her comfort zone, according to marine biologist Ramsay, who spotted her.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Creature On A Mission


Deep Blue is the biggest White Shark identified and was last spotted in Mexico almost 20 years ago. It seems she came to Hawaii on an all-you-can-eat mission following the scent of a whale carcass off the coast of Oahu. The area quickly attracted packs of divers who were keen to see the sea life it would attract, although state wildlife officials have warned on Facebook for them to stay away lest sharks mistake them for food.



ADVERTISEMENT

Maybe Pregnant


Marine biologists have estimated that Deep Blue, who may also be pregnant, is approaching 20 feet in length and weighs around 6,000 pounds. On average, a female great white shark is 15 to 16 feet long. To put it in perspective, a yellow school bus would only surpass it by 10 ft, and it stands as tall as an adult giraffe. Warning or no warning, that did not stop one marine biologist from approaching the majestic creature up close. The footage is just mind-blowing.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Patiently Waiting


“I waited quietly, patiently, observing as she swam up to the dead sperm whale carcass and then slowly to me passing close enough I gently put my hand out to maintain a small space so her girth could pass. I know some people criticize touch but what some don’t realize is that sometimes sharks seek touch” the marine biologist went on to explain. What she captured was truly mesmerizing.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Misconception


She swam away escorted by two rough-toothed dolphins who danced around her. She wrote ‘I wish more people would have a connection with sharks and the natural world, because then they would understand that it’s not petting sharks or pushing them off to maintain a respectable space that is hurting sharks (because trust me if she didn’t like being pet she can handle and communicate) it’s the wasteful and cruel practice of grabbing and catching sharks to cut off their fins.”

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Came Up To Say Hello


“Deep Blue came up and brushed up against the boat, maybe she’s pregnant, maybe she’s itchy?” Ramsey wrote, adding: “She swam away escorted by two rough-toothed dolphins who danced around her.” Deep Blue is over 50 years old, Ramsey said her team had been monitoring tiger sharks feeding when the legendary great white made her surprise appearance. The divers “spent the entire day with her till the sun went down,” Ramsey wrote.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Hand Out


“I waited quietly, patiently, observing as she swam up to the dead sperm whale carcass and then slowly to me,” she said. “I gently put my hand out to maintain a small space so her girth could pass.” Ramsey touched the shark as it swam by and, while she admits that some divers are very wary of this, she went on to say in an interview about the experience “sometimes sharks seek touch.”The species “are not the mindless monsters they are portrayed as,” she said. However, she did say that sharks can be unpredictable, writing: “I highly discourage people from purposely jumping in the water with great white sharks or tiger sharks.”

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT


John Richardson, conservation officer at UK organization The Shark Trust, told CNN that the spotting of Deep Blue is “incredibly exciting.” He noted: “If Deep Blue does prove to be pregnant, this is even more significant.” “While white shark sightings are rare in Hawaii, satellite tagging shows they make annual migrations from the Californian coast to the middle of the Pacific each winter — including Hawaii,” Richardson said. “While males return to California waters, female white sharks often appear to remain offshore.” However, he may not have agreed with what Ramsay did.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Warning


He did warn against engaging with sharks as closely as the divers did, sternly stating that the species can be “unpredictable. “While it’s great to see a ‘positive’ shark-human encounter given global coverage, we must add a note of caution which holds true for interactions with any large, powerful wild animals,” Richardson said.”Emphasis must always be on ensuring divers, kayakers, swimmers and supporting vessels do not intentionally disrupt a shark’s natural behavior, touch or harass it in any way”.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Exciting Moment


For Ocean Ramsey, she couldn’t stop bursting with excitement about the incredible opportunity that she was faced with “It fills my heart with joy and takes my breath away,” she said. Even though as a marine biologist she is used to swimming and studying these creatures, this was a rare opportunity even for her. It then made her sad, but why?

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Rare Moments


“I realized that moments like this are so rare because sharks are being wiped out. I’ve been working with sharks for over 10 years and I was out in the water with my research team, we never would have imagined we would have been fortunate enough to be graced with the presence of such an amazing individual”. Ramsey’s emotional proved how passionate she was about the subject.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Building A Relationship


Continuing she said, “It’s so sad that people see her as a monster and would want to kill her”. She hopes that this footage will help change people’s perceptions of sharks as they see in movies such as Jaws. They are not what most people think.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Interesting Figures


She gave us some food for thought, there are less than 10 human fatalities globally annually, yet people kill 70-100,000000 sharks a year.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Deep Blue


Deep Blue swam her way into the internet spotlight years ago when a Discovery Channel film crew spotted her during a Shark Week shoot off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island. In a video that was only later shared on social media, the giant animal swam up to the crew’s dive cage and curiously started thrashing around before swimming back into the abyss.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Uncommon In Those Waters


At the time, she was thought to be one of, if not the largest great white sharks ever caught on camera. Ramsey said that it could have been hunger that could have driven the shark out of its comfort zone into the unknown territory of Hawaii waters. So where had Deep Blue traveled from?

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Thousands Of Miles


While Deep Blue’s theoretical journey from Guadalupe Island to Hawaii might seem like a long way for a shark to travel, great whites have been known to travel entire oceans. Scientists in the early 2000s tracked one great white’s 12,400-mile journey from South Africa to Western Australia and back.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Incredible Skills


“She was just this big, beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post. We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day,” The marine biologist said. ‘I really hope she survives, we need more big healthy pregnant female sharks out there at the rate they are being killed.” She enjoyed swimming with and befriending the creature for an incredible 6 minutes holding her breath. She can hold her breath for 6 and a half minutes underwater while swimming.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Truly Dangerous


While Ramsey and her team were absolutely in awe by Deep Blue, state wildlife officials discourage the public from approaching the rotting whale carcass and the wildlife it attracts.”Understandably, some people want to get into the water either out of fascination or to get photographs” explained an official, but he had more to express.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Offical Business


In his statement, Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Chief Jason Redulla continued, “but it is truly dangerous to be around this carcass with so much shark activity.” Animosity had started to build and the officials were perplexed as to why people seemed to be risking their lives as well as potentially damaging the wildlife without really thinking about it. But what could be done when there was one person desperate for a special shark encounter?

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Tasty Treat


Chief Redulla went on to say, “We’re asking people to stay out of the water around this carcass. We don’t want anyone to get hurt if a shark swimming around the carcass mistakes them as food.” That in itself was terrifying enough but people were out to prove the critics wrong.

ADVERTISEMENT


Beyond Magic


“Beyond magic!” the shark conservation advocate wrote on an Instagram video, that documented her mesmerizingly close encounter with the shark that had quickly gained more than 300,000 views in one day. Her photos and videos of Ramsey swimming with touching Deep Blue have gone viral, leaving everyone who viewed them totally awestruck over the breathtaking footage.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Not Everyone Agrees


But for some other marine biologists also dedicated to studying the predators of the deep, Ramsey’s fearlessness has, in fact, raised concern as her ‘risky’ behavior could have potential negative impacts on humans and sharks. Marine biologist David Sniffman certainly had something to say about it.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

His Comments


Talking to The Washington Post he said, “I can’t believe that ‘please don’t grab the 18-foot long wild predator’ is something that needs to be explicitly said out loud, but here we are,” said David Shiffman, who has dedicated his life to studying sharks.

ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

Awe Inspiring


Whether people agree or not, one thing that can be said is that this incredible and rare experience has definitely helped raise awareness about sharks, and has given viewers the opportunity to see such an incredible creature up close. So thank you Ramsay and her team.