Avoiding an escalation with Tiger Sharks …!

This fun video captures how I avoided an escalation with a large Tiger Shark. In hindsight you can see the moment when the Shark decides to take an interest in me. However at the time I was simply focused on enjoying the thrills of the moment, and I never anticipated that just a few seconds later I would have to fend off the beautiful monster that was simply curious and checking out the interesting stuff around it just like us humans.
Note: Use Headphones for effect!
The few things I did right here in this crucial moment were:-
1) Maintain a watchful eye-contact until you are sure the Shark is going well past a turning point where it could suddenly spin around and grab you in its jaws - Ignoring the temptation to keep looking forwards at the 3 other sharks to capture that once-in-a-lifetime video and focus on your own safety first!
2) Use the aluminium stick to place a barrier between myself and the Shark almost reflexively without a fear response
3) Not hoping for or leaving the responsibility for my own protection and safety with the dive staff from the dive shop. They were too far away to intervene if anything happened in any case - they cannot be everywhere at the same time.
4) Not panicking as I watched the Tiger approaching directly over me. Once you panic you wont even realize when you float directly into the path of the Tiger while thrashing about and swimming away like a prey thus triggering the predatory instinct of all other Sharks present there…
5) Maintaining good buoyancy control and not floating up into the Sharks Jaws when attempting to fend myself from it. I had to spin around 180 degrees to keep facing it then I spun back to retrieve the aluminium rod and spin around again to face the Shark - all this while, I was huggingthe ground.
If using rental gear, best to use an extra kilo of weight to ensure you stay on the sea floor. I think that one usually gets well sorted out almost automatically once in the water with their own gear so I did not need that.
The vide is proof that I survived 😀
#sharkdiving #sharklove #sharkencounters #sharks