A woman aboard a shark-tagging boat decided to pet a great white. Like a dog. But the shark, unsurprisingly so, did not react like a golden retriever.
In a startling video filmed off Tybee Island, Georgia, the woman leans over the boat and reaches toward the predator swimming alongside. For a moment, everything seems perfectly calm. Then the shark whips its head around and lunges. Her hand retreats. All fingers accounted for.
The woman, identified only as Jen, was participating in an expedition with Knot Lucky, a Savannah-based nonprofit that takes military veterans and their families fishing and helps researchers tag great whites. Check out the footage below:
Program founder Jimmy Armel joked that Jen was treating the shark “like it’s the family dog.” When it reacted, he wrote, “Everybody on the boat felt that one in their chest.”
Armel emphasized that the crew had control of the situation and Jen was never in immediate danger. Nobody was injured. The shark wasn’t tagged, because the team couldn’t do so safely, and it was released.
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Still, the clip is a useful reminder: a wild great white isn’t a cuddly puppy. Reaching toward a shark’s head is an unnecessary risk, even with experienced handlers nearby.
Thousands of miles away, experts in Australia have issued their own shark-safety warnings following heavy rain.
Earlier this year, four shark bites were reported in New South Wales within 48 hours. Researchers described the January conditions as a “perfect storm,” with rain flushing nutrients and sewage into waterways, attracting baitfish and the sharks following them. Those incidents were associated largely with bull sharks, not the great white in Georgia.
University of Sydney shark researcher Chris Pepin-Neff called swimming in Sydney Harbour immediately after heavy rain “a terrible idea.”
His advice? “Wait 72 hours after a storm to swim in the harbor,” he said, while urging caution at ocean beaches after downpours, too.
Regarding the shark petting incident, here’s what Pepin-Neff had to say:
“That’s a hard no. The scientist doesn’t need to do it and it stresses out the animal; it’s not part of the normal shark tagging process.” He emphasized the broader consequences of the viral clip: “It sends the wrong message to the public that the sharks can be petted and can be touched… and the last thing you want to do is stress out a great white shark.”
The two stories are unrelated. But they offer the same basic lesson: respect wild animals, pay attention to conditions, and keep your hands to yourself.
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