Diver Shares How To Escape a Hungry Shark With Your Bare Hands: 'Fearless'

Two divers in Oahu, Hawaii, have gone viral after sharing a video of how to survive in shark-infested waters.

In the footage, shared by Kayleigh Grant (@mermaid.kayleigh), diver Andriana Fragola (@andriana_marine) can be seen splashing her flippers in the water in a movement that attracts the attention of an enormous tiger shark before redirecting it away with her bare hands.

"This is a female shark we have seen many times over the years," Grant told Newsweek. "Because she is an older shark who is generally calm in demeanor, she had a very slow approach."

At first, when the shark sees Fragola's splashing, it swims towards her, thinking she is a helpless prey animal. As it moves closer, its eyes turn white as it enters its "hunting mode."

"Many shark species have an inner eyelid called a nictitating membrane, which they use to protect their eye if something comes near it," Grant said. "It's similar to us closing our eyes. In this video the shark shuts its eye getting closer to Andy, for protection."

Sharks will often shut their nictitating membrane when they are hunting prey to protect their eyes from getting scratched by their prey's defenses.

However, just as the shark approaches Fragola, she stops splashing and gently pushes the top of the shark's nose to guide it away. At this point, the shark's eyes change from white to dark and it swims away in the other direction.

The video was taken roughly 3 miles off the coast of Oahu, in water over 300 feet deep, and has so far received over 4.2 million views on TikTok, as well as thousands of likes and comments from users.

"I hope that just once in my life, I can be this fearless," said one user.

"I think the shark was just as shocked as us," said another.

Grant said that, despite their fearsome reputation, seeing sharks in the ocean is actually a good thing, as far as marine biology is concerned. "We are happy to see sharks in the water because sharks are a sign of a healthy oceans ecosystem," she said.

"Because we have been doing this for many years, we are confident when swimming with them but they are still wild animals and apex predators so it shouldn't be attempted without a trained and professional guide."

When it comes to shark bites, tiger sharks are involved in more unprovoked attacks than any other shark species other than the great white shark. However, it is important to put these numbers into perspective.

Globally, there have been only 142 unprovoked tiger shark attacks since 1580, only 39 of which were fatal, data from the Florida Museum Shark Attack File shows. According to data from the CDC, you are over 50 times more likely to die from a lightning strike than from a shark attack.

"Sharks aren't the man-eating monsters that the media portrays," Grant said. "They are actually being killed at an alarming rate of around 100 million per year for their fins, meat, and as bycatch. You can help them by eating less or no seafood in your diet."

Although Grant stressed that the actions performed in this video should not be attempted without professional guidance, she said that, should you ever find yourself swimming with sharks, there are certain safety measures you can take: "Stay calm, don't splash or panic, maintain eye contact, and put something between you and the shark."