A scuba diver had a rare close-up encounter with a great white shark and Instagram users were blown away by the experience.
Vlad Siryk lives in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. and is an avid scuba diver. Although he has witnessed great white sharks before, he has recently had an experience that will live "rent free" in his head for a long time near Tillamook, Oregon.
"I've seen my fair share of sharks around the world of various kinds but seeing this great white come up to my face like that out of nowhere was an experience that'll live rent free in my head for a long time," said the video caption.
"It was crazy," he told Newsweek. "Especially in murky water."
Siryk shared a video of the encounter to Instagram, which has received 635,000 views since it was first posted on November 30, showing the shark in close proximity to him.
In the short clip, Siryk records with spear in hand as the shark slowly swims by, something he described as "the biggest shark I've ever seen."
In the caption of the post, he revealed: "We all know that we have great whites up here in the PNW and we've all heard the stories but very few people have actually seen one underwater in the Pacific Northwest, so you kind of just don't think about it too often or at least try not too.
"I've seen my fair share of sharks around the world of various kinds but seeing this great white come up to my face like that out of no where was an experience that'll live rent free in my head for a long time. This was by far the biggest shark I've ever seen, I could not believe how girthy it was and how fast it moved."
The diver told Newsweek: "[It was] pretty wild seeing a shark that bog so close in our murky waters."
The waters of the United States have over a million sharks. According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, the northeastern Pacific white shark population seems to be on the rise and is not at risk of becoming endangered in U.S. waters.
Instagram users took to the comments section of the video to share their reaction's to the diver's encounter.
"I can't believe it bro!" said @theasherhouse. "So glad you're ok."
Meanwhile, @jarettjuarez commented: "Man, I've been diving around here for quite a few years now and it's always in the back of my head. This is an unreal capture on the camera."
"I want to hear the words you said once you got above the water," @matt_hartley joked.
"Crazy thing is that shark looked more scared of you!" said @depth_affinity.
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