Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@mermaid.kayleigh
Topics: Animals, Shark, Instagram, Social Media, Viral
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Animals, Shark, Instagram, Social Media, Viral
A diver's video demonstration of what to do if you're being chased by a shark is impressive but also slightly petrifying.
Experienced diver Kayleigh Nicole Grant spends her days exploring the waters of Kailua-Kona in Hawaii.
And another animal she shares the seas with are some pretty big and scary-looking sharks, but she's since shared a video on the best approach to take should you ever find yourself being approached by one.
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On her Instagram, Grant explains sharks do have the 'potential to be dangerous' because ultimately they're 'wild animals and apex predators' - for those of you who gave up biology as soon as they could, that means a predator at the top of the food chain without natural predators of its own.
However, the diver's post continues: "But [sharks] aren't the man-eating monsters the media makes them out to be. In fact, you’re more likely to be bitten by a New Yorker than a shark!
"Let's not demonize an animal for doing what nature intended it to do, be a predator. Their role is vital in the oceans ecosystem."
And Grant has since shared advice on what to do if you should ever encounter a shark while swimming in the sea.
Last year, Grant shared a video of herself, wearing flippers, swimming in the sea and right in front of her, you can see a shark approaching.
While, at first, Grant can be seen kicking her legs and paddling away, she stops as the shark grows closer and actually reaches out her hand, grabbing the top of the shark's nose and pushing it downwards and away from her.
The caption explains: "Sharks have natural instincts and splashing, panicking, and swimming away from them can trigger their prey drive.
"It’s better to stay calm, stand your ground, make eye contact, and if necessary push them away.
And heaven forbid you should have two sharks approaching you at once?
Well, the diver continues in another post: "Pushing one shark into the other is a technique we often use when having two sharks approaching us at once.
"Luckily, with a good dive buddy like @andriana_marine we can lend each other a helping hand so that we can focus on one shark at a time. If she wasn't there it doesn't mean I would be bitten as double sharks is something we are used to handling. But we prefer to stay humble to their abilities & jump in to assist one another in various ways.
"I don't ever want to take unnecessary risks when diving with sharks & prefer to err on the side of caution as they are wild animals & apex predators."