Just a great white shark, casually stoppin’ in to say hi. Photo: Dustin Sergent // YouTube
The great white shark holds a special place in our collective psyche. Of course, no small part of that is due to Jaws, but the massive predators are captivating beasts, even without the aid of Hollywood myth-making.
San Diego-based fly fishing captain Dustin Sergent recently experienced firsthand exactly why great whites are the object of so much obsession. A video he recorded on his cell phone and sent to FOX 5 shows an incredibly up close and personal run-in with the most feared predator in the ocean.
The encounter occurred off the coast of La Jolla on Saturday, June 28. Sergent told Fox 5 that one of his crew had a blue shark hooked to a line, when a 16 to 18-foot long white shark approached them. As shown in the video, the shark passed by the side of the boat, before being chased away by a sea lion.
“We did not hook or harass the white shark,” he said. “To top it off, we had a sea lion come in and bully the great white! Very cool thing to see.”