A diver found himself caught in the middle of a dramatic shark attack while exploring a remote coral lagoon.
The terrifying encounter unfolded as crew on a 12-metre sailing catamaran filmed marine life beneath the waves.
Just minutes into their first dive, a group of Galapagos sharks, otherwise known as grey reef whalers, swarmed a diver who was holding a cinema camera fitted with bright movie lights.
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The predators quickly closed in after rising from below in a sudden burst of commotion.
Within seconds, at least ten were bumping and ramming into the diver, who desperately shoved them away.
Despite the frenzy, none of the sharks bit or bared their teeth.
One even headbutted the diver’s face without opening its mouth.
Experts say the sharks may have mistaken the lights and thrashing for feeding activity, hoping to steal a catch from what they saw as a larger predator, as reported by Need To Know.
The diver escaped unharmed and the crew returned to the water shortly afterwards to continue filming.
Footage of the close call has since gone viral, racking up over 2.4 million views online.
The encounter happened at Middleton Reef, a coral reef in the Coral Sea about 500km northeast of Sydney, Australia.
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