Watch One Lucky Bastard Have a Close Encounter With a Great White Shark

Holy shit.

American man Spencer Reilly was minding his own business in a shark cage in while on honeymoon in Gansbaai, South Africa, when he had a sudden visit from a great white shark.

Did you just yell “holy shit!” in the middle of your office? Me too. 

From the looks of the video (which appears a bit sped up in the beginning), Reilly came within inches of getting his arm sliced open. Here’s how Australia’s ABC described the encounter:

The footage, filmed underwater, shows the shark torpedoing into the cage at high speed. Its razor-sharp teeth stop just short of Reilly’s head and arms, inside the cage. “Holy shit!” he exclaims, before surfacing and laughing — no doubt relieved to have escaped uninjured. 

Cage diving with sharks – including Great whites and Mako sharks – is a popular tourist activity in South Africa, but is not without controversy. Critics say the activity is inauthentic, unsustainable and perpetuates myths and fear surrounding the animals. Others say the use of baiting to attract the sharks to the cages could increase the number of attacks on humans.

Shark diving: Not even once.

Photos by YouTube