Diver Has Been Friends With Tiger Shark For 20 Years! | The Dodo

This shark conservationist has spent his life befriending all types of sharks—including Emma the tiger shark, who he’s known for 20 years.

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on a daily basis this shark follows me around like a dog just trying to get its head rubbed I've been able to use affection to remove four hooks from Emma [Music] I would suspect that it's the same as your dog recognizing you every time you come home even when you change clothes she knows where I am by the sound of my boat because she follows the boat around even when there's not fish in the water [Music] as far as safety is concerned have quite simply sharks don't eat people under the conditions that I'm in crystal-clear water where they can see what they're doing with over four decades of being in the water with the world's largest predatory sharks I have yet to see an aggressive shark towards man the reason it keeps coming back is because this specific tiger is trained on a hand signal which basically means some do you want your head rocks what apex predator on the planet can you actually make friends with it really puts the shark in a completely new white this is not a vicious maneater and these creatures that most of the world believes to be a mindless mating monster is actually beautiful sentient creature that thrives on infection I have always loved sharks since I was a little child although when I was much younger I was afraid of them I got this crazy idea I wonder if I could actually make friends with this shark enough to get the shark close enough so that I could pull the hook while it's getting its head rubbed and I tried this in a short amount of time this shark I named captain wrong was thriving on the affection within a couple of hours I had the hook one of the best things that's happened to me is this discovery of the affectionate side of sharks [Music] little did I know that almost 20 years later she'd still be following me around she's quite certainly a gentle giant she's very playful and loving it's quite remarkable to see this enormous wild animal actually seeking out affection like comment and subscribe