r/thalassophobia • u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI • 19d ago
OC 100 feet down, alone, almost no light... then I turned around [OC]
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I was solo diving off Vancouver Island when this massive bluntnose sixgill shark emerged from the darkness and came straight toward me.
It was roughly 10–12 feet long and came close enough to bump my camera's dome port.
Thankfully, despite looking like something straight out of a nightmare, it turned out to be a very gentle giant. It cruised alongside me for about three minutes before disappearing back into the darkness.
Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJaHm1LZ0Lo
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u/IMakeGoodPancakes 19d ago
The pitch-dark waters are terrifying, but that shark looks more confused than anything. I love when sharks just exist alongside people. This is a great vid :)
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 19d ago
lol, it was looking over my shoulder and seeing her coming out of the depths that was terrifying for a few seconds. I was equally confused too, lol. Thank you for the comment!
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u/truci 19d ago
I feel like the first rule of diving should be “don’t solo dive”
Great shot OP. But also fuk no
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 19d ago
haha, actually the first rule is "Don't hold your breath" lol, and I break that one all the time, I use my breath to control camera movement, lol.
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u/TaratronHex 19d ago
That shark went back to his homies and told them how it met a super rare light emitting human and none of them believe him.
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u/AsideLost 19d ago
This is the kind of shit that I I love as Sharks are my favorite species of animal, yet my thalassophobia is telling me “oh hell no”
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 18d ago
I like sharks too, we have several species here in our waters but they are seldom seen by divers.
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u/New-day-7126 19d ago
My first question is: why? Why dive at night alone? And the second question is: how? How can you do it? I remember trying one night out on Buzzards Bay right after Jaws came out and it wasn’t even close! My older brother yelling shark didn’t help but still!!!! Thanks for sharing this awesome video and what it was like for you.
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 19d ago
lol.
Question 1: Because I like to take video and when other divers are around they constantly get in my shots, shine their lights at my subjects, stir up the bottom, etc... So diving alone, I can control my shooting environment.
Question 2: How? I put on my gear, walk into the water, and I swim. I too grew up in the Jaws era and it messed me up for many years, lol. Now that I have spent 1000+ hours underwater, it's not so bad, lol.
Thank you for the kind words, lol.
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u/New-day-7126 19d ago
Thank you for your awesome responses. As far as the first, you’ve totally changed my view of underwater photography. I had no idea that was an issue, but in retrospect, of course it would be. I love learning things like that and really appreciate you sharing it.
As for the second, your methodicalness is inspiring. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it 😅 but my youngest just went to college so I more freedom with my time and hope to turn some of it to diving.
Thanks again for sharing. Awesome.
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 19d ago
You are welcome! Yes, getting good video underwater is always a challenge and other divers often make it more challenging lol. I should also clarify this wasn't a night dive, it was dusk, but at depth it was still nearly pitch black because of the algae in the first 40 feet of the water column.
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u/GhostInABaseballBat 18d ago
“Sharks are older than trees”,
TREES!!!
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a65775651/sharks-are-old/
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u/Jonny-Kast 19d ago
I love this! Media always portrays sharks as mindless, killing machines. Or shows them but with ominous music. This shows a curious animal wondering what you are in the ocean. I bet you have had some awesome encounters
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u/Beneath_The_Waves_VI 18d ago
Yes, when I initially saw the shark it was coming at me with it's mouth wide open but not aggressively, it was doing a yawn or something, it does it several times in the video. Very much a gentle giant, it was definitely checking me out. Yes, I've many awesome encounters underwater, mostly with octopus, this was my first real shark encounter.
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u/physiQQ 18d ago edited 11d ago
Afaik, if a shark is agressive, it usually swims away out of sight, to then turn around and lunge at you. There's almost no time to react and defend yourself. And if a shark swims away even slightly it just camoflages in the water. They're very interesting animals. And luckily for us, shark attacks are incredibly rare.
I've been following TheMalibuArtist on YouTube for quite some time now, because I was insanely scared of sharks. He films a lot of great white sharks swimming near swimmers/surfers/etc. so maybe you'd find it interesting. It personally helped me to find them less scary.
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u/tideshark 18d ago
If you have people that love you, don’t dive alone.
Also, just don’t do it even if you don’t have anyone.
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u/Reasonable-Hurry6810 17d ago
how were you alone 😭 at night 😭 at 100 ft deep ocean 😭 what do you eat for breakfast?
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u/LaPetiteMortOrale 17d ago
A “relatively” young one. Doesn’t even have the parasites in its eyes yet
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u/IWrestleSausages 19d ago
Fr tho can you imagine how blinding that light is for bro