What would you do if a shark decided to give you “kisses?” Me? I’d freak out. That’s a lot of mammal coming at your face. Well, that is what happened for one Stefano Ulivi, of Florence, Italy. He was leading a diving expedition near Pico Island, camera rolling, when several sizable blue sharks approached the group. They’re know for being a curious shark, swimming up to divers and spearfishers when food is involved.
Image CC0 by Mark Conlin via Good Free Photos
Real life “Jaws”, without the teeth
Ulivi, being in the business of diving, knows that sharks hardly ever want to hurt anyone, despite what “Jaws” and other narratives might suggest. In fact, your chance of being killed by a shark is about 1 in 3.7 million. The curious shark gradually came up to Ulivi. He actually found the proximity of the shark rather exhilarating and wasn’t scared, to say the least.
“Usually blue sharkes are super curious and commonly they approach divers really at a short distance,” Ulivi told The Dodo.
Image via screencapture from YouTube video
But even Ulivi seemed a little surprised when the blue shark came right up to him. It almost seemed like he was expecting a hug. Then, the shark gently booped Ulivi right on his face, as if giving him a kiss. “This guy was trying to test me,” Ulivi said, about the shark’s up-close inspection. “Good food or not?”
Curious shark is not the first to try this.
Many other videos and stories don’t show sharks in an accurate light, according to George Burgess, noted shark expert and director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “The reality is most of those videos you see of the sharks jumping out of the water chasing something, they’ve been lured by photographers using styrofoam props in the shape of a seal,” Burgess told The Dodo after another incident between a surfer and a shark.
Sharks have a bad reputation as it is – which is literally killing them! If more people saw videos like this, maybe they would stop hunting them. What do you think? Check out the adorable video and give us your thoughts below.
Featured Image via screencapture from YouTube video
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