Florida scuba divers have close call with great white shark

May 18 : A man training to become a certified scuba diver in Florida captured video of a great white shark that showed up during his first deep dive.

Cody Wabiszewski, a former aerospace engineer who moved from Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys to start a charter fishing company, was on a training dive Wednesday at the site of the Thunderbolt shipwreck, about 4 miles off the shore of Key West.

Wabiszewski said it was his first time diving more than 60 feet underwater.

“When you dive below 60 feet narcosis starts to set in and you can get loopy so I was wondering what this would feel like,” he told WTVT-TV. “As soon as we hit 70 feet on the down line my scuba buddy tapped me on the shoulder and pointed.”

Wabiszewski said he initially thought the nearby fish was a large bull shark.

“A second look and I realized it was a great white shark covered in amberjacks, African pompano, and a huge cobia,” he said.

Wabiszewski captured video of the 15-foot shark investigating the divers as they stood on the deck of the Thunderbolt.

“When looking at the shark it is amazing, unbelievable, and freaking awesome, so you are not scared. I actually wanted to swim toward the shark to get better video but thought it would scare the shark away and wanted to see her more,” Wabiszewski said.

He said the experience was more unsettling when they couldn’t see the shark anymore.

“It was only scary once the shark was gone. The visibility on the wreck was not great so that made it interesting once she swam away. We did continue the dive and did a second dive hoping to see the great white shark again,” Wabiszewski said. UPI.com