A Florida videographer has captured footage showing a 14-foot great hammerhead shark approaching within feet of waders who, remarkably, seemed unfazed by the encounter.
Evan Parness watched on his screen as he flew his drone overhead to capture the shark’s approach “in just feet of water.” He stated via Instagram that it was “the most intense clip I’ve ever filmed.”
The men, standing waist-deep on a reef, could see a portion of the shark but clearly did not enjoy the same perspective as Parness, who could see the entire shark.
Parness estimated the weigh of the shark at 1,000 pounds.
“This video is obviously slowed down, but while this was going down in real time, it felt like it was in slow motion while I was watching it live on my screen,” he recalled, adding that the swimmers were friends visiting from Michigan.
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They remained as “cool as ice” as the shark veered away before making contact with the men.
“When you come down to FL on vacation, don’t rule out a massive hammerhead checking you out!” Parness joked.
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Great hammerhead sharks can measure nearly 20 feet. They sometimes patrol Florida’s coast in search of smaller sharks, stingrays, bony fishes and other prey.
They’re not considered to be especially dangerous to humans but, according to the Florida Museum, “Because of their size and unpredictable nature, they should be treated with respect.”
Parness wrote: “As this was unfolding, I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. I was expecting the shark to turn earlier than it did, but clearly, it wanted to fully investigate the Michigan bros.
“Since this was a Great hammerhead, I knew the odds of something bad happening were slim. But at the end of the day, nature is unpredictable & anything can happen.”
Parness theorized that the hammerhead was hunting blacktip sharks.