A video of an unidentified diver's close encounter with a shark, while the diver was inside the cage and the shark broke through, has gone viral.
The video, taken during a diving trip off Baja near Guadalupe Island on Oct. 4, appears to show the shark chow down on bait in the water and then break through a cage where a diver was observing. People in the video appear to jump to action to help the diver, a crew member opening the top of the cage so the shark could escape.
NBC 7 spoke to an employee at a local dive shop who said the crew on that boat did exactly what they were supposed to do in these situations.
“They were all on it. They knew what to do," said Jodie Booras , marketing director at Ocean Enterprises. “You have to anticipate anything. The crew knew what to do and acted perfectly."
Video appears to show the shark flailing around, then getting out of the cage and swimming away. Crews then pulled the diver to safety.
Booras, who said she took that same boat and cage tour this past August, told NBC 7 the cage is safe.
“I’d do this before surfing in Australia or South Africa, where you're not protected," she said.
Local
Solamar V, the touring company that offered the excursion, has an office in the Los Angeles area. They released the following statement regarding this incident:
“The cages have been inspected and reinforced while also extending our 'no bait' zone around all cages, and a meeting with other operators will take place later this month in order to work together to minimize unfortunate incidents like this one."
