Diver didn’t really “high five” 22-ft great white shark: here’s what happened

A much-publicized encounter between a great white shark and a diver wasn't a friendly handshake - but it wasn't dangerous either, researchers say. The diver was trying to guide the shark away from the cage to keep it from being injured. (Photo : YouTube screenshot

A recent viral video showing the encounter of a diver and a great white shark that included a “handshake” between the two didn’t happen exactly as it appeared, people involved in the incident have revealed. In the video, the shark – one of the largest ever filmed – appears to “high five” a dive master hanging outside of a shark cage. It turns out it wasn’t the 22-foot-long shark but rather the diver who was the initiator of the contact. Joel Ibarra, the dive master of an ecotourism boat, was in fact trying to keep the creature from making contact with the shark cage and possible harming itself.

“The dive master was pushing the shark away — it has a big laceration on the right side,” explained shark researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, head of a nonprofit group focused on sharks and other open-water species. “It was really close to the cage, and they have pointy ends. It is so big it couldn’t turn properly. So he was trying to push her away, because he didn’t want her to get hurt.”

“Coming out of the cage like that is not as risky as it might seem,” said shark researcher Carl Meyer of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). “The diver waits until the head of the shark has gone past, then climbs out to touch the pectoral fin” deflecting the animal.

Read more about it and watch the video at Tech Times and LiveScience.