VERO BEACH, Fla., May 20 (UPI) -- Earlier this month, scuba diver Jimmy Roseman, came face to face with a 12-foot great white shark while surveying the coral reefs just off the Atlantic Coast near Vero Beach, Florida.
Though news outlets have described the encounter as a battle, it was more of a standoff, with Roseman holding his ground on the sea bed as the terrifying predator circled curiously. Still, battle or standoff, it's not a position anyone in their right mind would hope to find themselves in.
The two-minute ordeal was all caught on camera, as Roseman, of West Melbourne, Florida, was sporting a GoPro camera.
"In the video, it did look like it was kind of far away," Roseman told reporters. "But the whole time it was about six to seven foot away from me."
At one point the shark got so close, Roseman said, that its fin smacked his air tank. Having had enough, Roseman finally prodded the shark with his spear gun and it swam away frightened. Both the shark and Roseman escaped unharmed.
Great white sharks, one of the most fearsome predators in the sea, typically don't attack humans unless provoked. Occasionally, great whites will attack surfers after mistaking them for seals.
