Exclusive Web Clip #1 – Great White Shark Legend
It is hard to capture in words that moment when you see a Great White Shark in it’s natural habitat, up close, in real life. What you see on TV is 99% of the time not what a Great White is all about. The second you capture the moment of witnessing this majestic and misunderstood creature with your own eyes everything changes. It’s hard to describe. That moment when the disconnect between what you thought you knew and what you now realise is true is something we are trying to display in the Great White Shark Legend documentary.
With that in mind we would like to share some stories from some of the members of the White Shark Advocacy group (visit the Facebook group page here) who were kind enough to tell us their own legendary stories of that magical moment when you make that connection with nature in a way no other creature can offer us humans. The group is run by Dirk Schmidt, author of two spectacular books on Great Whites, and we also present to you here the man himself discussing his own Great White encounter, in open water, in this exclusive web clip for Great White Shark Legend.
Here’s the Great White Shark Legends as told by the groups awesome advocates:
Andi Hi: “I was in Guadalupe with an experienced divemaster. We were free diving a curious female named Lucy. She was gorgeous! First she approached very slow, but when time passed she got “used” to us and acted very calm and passed us very often and suddenly she disappeared into the blue where she came from. I’ll never foget the size – these animals are HUGE!”
Christine Wanless: “First sighting is always special.I remember being in a cage, freezing and then seeing her. Her beautiful black eyes and cheeky grin as she was gliding through the water and not caring that I was there. I have always loved sharks since I was a child and some people find it odd. As people have said to me in the past why sharks? I have always answered what is not to love about them, as they are million years old and they are fantastic hunters but so graceful and peaceful to be around. I was truly honoured that day and I will never forget it”.
Ricardo Lacombe: “I remember the first time I saw one up close (other than in the distance breaches), like to really observe….it was in False Bay, on the boat with Rob Lawrence and crew, and we had weighed anchor and were just waiting around….then from the very deep, at a pace so slow I thought it was unreal, was the white belly of a 4m GWS…rising up vertically, slowly, to the surface. It was so surreal and so slow that I could not believe my own eyes. That moment changed me and set me on a path (I later realised) to do something about becoming a GWS advocate”.
Skyler Thomas: “You can’t believe their size or their demeanour. The first one I saw was only 14 feet. Yes, 14 feet is a big animal, but I had fantastical delusions of seeing an 18 footer right away. Let me tell you that the girth of even a 14 foot white shark as its back breaks the surface for the first time dropped my jaw. Next thing I noticed was the way they move, almost like a ghost gliding by; any effort made by the shark almost imperceptible. And next let me say that having been on these trips on and off for almost a decade, I have never once seen a tourist NOT leave with a new and profound appreciation for this animal”.
Feel free to share your own legend of meeting a Great White Shark in the real world!