Spearfisherman Has Terrifying Encounter with a Great White Shark

A spearfisherman in South Africa got the scare of his life when he accidentally came upon an aggressive Great White shark!

Johan Potgeiter went out with friends Francios Smuts, Rene’ Nel and Erik Fourie. While the diver was navigating the murky waters of Arniston in Cape Town, South Africa, he had an incredibly close encounter with a Great White. Potgeiter writes:

“I dived down on the edge down to 19m and when I leveled out on the bottom I looked first to my right, and then as I looked to my left the Great White was right next to me, that could quit easily been the end of me. I just managed to prod him with my spear, before he turned his nose he was only an arm’s length away from my head..he seemed not to like my defensive prod to much, sped off, made a sharp turn, dropped his pectoral fins (very aggressive behavior) made a sharp 180 degree turn and came strait for me. At this point the situation turned from a close encounter to life threatening. The Shark was clearly now in attack mode. I had to show some dominance back to him to avoid being bitten, I thrust my speargun forward with all my might and managed to give him a good prod causing him to veer off again and disappeared into the gloom. At this point I was out of air and made my assent as fast as i could, trying not to display any signs of panic. When I got to the surface I was more worried about Francios and Erik than anything else. I shouted to warn them, stuck my head back in the water and the White was right underneath me. I could not believe this shark had followed me up to the surface, I have seen many Great Whites and never see aggressive behavior like this.“

The murky water makes the encounter all the more terrifying, since you can’t tell which direction the shark could have come from next! Luckily all of the divers made it out of the water safe and sound!