The 1992 Cageless shark-diving expedition that was led by Ron and Valerie Taylor contributed to changing public opinions about the supposed ferocity of great white sharks.

History

In January 1992, during the filming of a documentary film "''Blue Wilderness''", during surface testing of the prototype "Shark Pod" (now Shark Shield) among several large great white sharks feeding around the boat, four divers: Ron and Valerie Taylor (notable Australian pioneers of underwater exploration and film-makers), George Askew (South African pioneer underwater explorer and photographer), and Piet van der Walt spent an hour diving amongst these potentially dangerous sharks at Dyer Island, South Africa without a safety cage. The Taylors and Askew, recognised as experienced shark divers, were testing their hypothesis, based on many years of experiences with sharks, that these animals had a much fiercer reputation than they deserved in South African waters. The Australian equivalent is thought to have a slightly different disposition.

Askew had proposed, in an article entitled "Myth or Maneater?", published in the UK magazine Underwater World in 1978, that great whites did not deserve the horrific image and reputation that Jaws author Peter Benchley had imprinted in peoples minds. He postulated that if the Great White knew you were aware of its presence you had a pretty good chance of not being attacked, as they rely on stealth and surprise when attacking. He wrote two more articles on the same thread in 1983 and 1989 - and then went on to prove that point with the historic dive.

Impact

That dive - widely recognised as an "Underwater Everest" in underwater exploration - made great steps towards changing the popular reputation of the great white. They found the sharks were actually very timid and difficult to approach as they were still not used to humans underwater.

See also

* Jaws * Great white shark