Divers Have Close Encounter with Great White Shark in Australia

by Emily Sutherlin | July 16, 2012 at 05:08 am

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Dave Richards and Nathan Podmore had an extremely close encounter with a great white shark.

According to a news video by 7News, Dave Richards and Nathan Podmore were spearfishing off the coast of Geraldton when a great white shark started to circle them. They were then minutes into their adventure when they noticed the shark around them.

Unable to get to safety because the shark was between them and their boat, the two divers stayed calm and collected with only their spears and a knife.

Podmore had a camera attached to his head, so they got the whole thing caught on tape.

Luckily, the shark swam away and Richards and Podmore were able to swim back to their boat in safety.

We interview Spearo Nathan Podmore about how he and friend Dave Richards fended off a pointer while spearing off Geraldton from Terra Australis on Vimeo.

According to the West Australian, the shark was about 13 feet in length. Great white sharks, which can be as long as 20 feet, are responsible for one third to one half of the roughly 100 shark attacks reported worldwide each year. That being said, Richards and Podmore should probably consider themselves lucky.