Diver fends off shark in Caribbean (video)

A man filmed himself fending off a shark while diving in the Western Caribbean Sea.

Jason Dimitri was lion fish culling when the predator “came out of nowhere”.

Dimitri uploaded the video on YouTube and wrote: “It scared the c**p out of me.”

The diver added that he was in 70 feet of water when the shark came to defend its territory.

The footage was uploaded on 13 March 2014 and shows Dimitri hunting with his friends and the shark repeatedly coming at him.

Writing on YouTube, he said: “I want to make it clear that I am hunting lion fish to help protect the reef from the destruction that they cause. The shark was acting in his natural environment. I have no ill will toward him and will get back in the water and continue to protect the reef for future generations.”

The video was filmed using a GoPro 3 camera.

Last year, the dramatic moment a team of divers saved an endangered shark after spotting it with a hook struck in its mouth was captured on video.

The SeaWorld rescue team saw the shark at popular diver spot Julian Rocks near Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia.

The team had to capture the endangered grey nurse shark and bring it aboard their boat to surgically remove the one-metre-long hook and trace stuck in its mouth.

Sea World Marine Sciences director Trevor Long said: “The rescue was made somewhat more challenging as there was average visibility under water, strong currents in the area, and to top it off, the shark was also quite feisty, putting-up a real fight once it had been roped.”

10 Easiest Places To Get Eaten By A Shark

• Florida

  New Smyrna Beach in Florida has the dubious honour of having more shark attacks annually than any other beach. The beach is part of Volusia County, which accounts for roughly 37% of Florida’s 663 attacks since 1882. 

  It is estimated that anyone who has swam there has been within 10ft of a shark, according to National Geographic. However, there have never been any fatalities on New Smyrna.

  However, that can’t be said for the rest of Florida. Since 1988, there have been 6 fatalities.

• South Africa

  The number of fatal, unprovoked shark attacks in South African waters between 1990-2009, is 22, according to the KwaZulu Natal Sharks Board. There have been 136 attacks in total.

  In 2012, there were four shark attacks in South Africa, three of them fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File.

  Picture: A woman enters the water as workers aboard a boat, right, place a shark exclusion net at Fish Hoek beach, on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Friday, April 5, 2013.

• Australia

  There have been 207 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia over the last 20 years, and 124 of those occurred in the last 10 years, reports Australian Geographic.

  According to The West Australian newspaper, Western Australia has become the deadliest place in the world for shark attacks, after the fourth death in seven months occurred in 2012.

  Picture: Shark warning sign on Botany Bay beach. Sydney, Australia.

• Brazil

  In the past 20 years Brazil has become an increasingly hazardous place to go swimming. 

  While the north-east coast might have a stunning coastline and bath-temperature waters, the BBC report that off the shore of Recife are many aggressive sharks, which has made this one of the most dangerous places in the world to swim. 

  Brazil’s sharks appear to be some of the most dangerous in the world. The death rate of 37% (21 of the 56 attacks in 20 years) is much higher than the worldwide shark attack fatality rate, which is currently about 16%, according to the Florida State Museum of Natural History.

  Picture: Placard warns about a shark hazard in Boa Viagem beach in Recife, northeastern Brazil on September 11, 2012.

• Hawaii

  Hawaii

  After 14 unprovoked shark attacks were reported in Hawaii in 2013, according to hawaiisharks.com, locals have become increasingly nervous about the risk posed by sharks

  From 1828 to December 2013 there have been 128 total unprovoked shark attacks in Hawaii, 10 of which were fatal attacks, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

  Picture: Japanese tourists stroll along Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, following a shark siting in 2001, which closed the beach.

• California

  California has had 109 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks since 1926, according to the International Shark Attack File, and the state ranks second in the U.S. for shark attack frequency. 

  There have been 10 fatal attacks, and the last was just two years ago in Santa Barbara in 2012.

• Papua New Guinea

  Papua New Guinea has had nearly 50 shark attacks (half of them fatal) .

  The Guardian report that the country has a disproportionately high number of shark attacks, considering its small population size, because of the country’s location, with extensive seas coasts and warm climates.

  Picture: Trobriand Island In Trobriand, Papua New Guinea

• South Carolina

  Since 1837, 71 shark attacks and two fatalities have occurred in South Carolina, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

  Of those, 16 attacks are recorded off the beaches of Horry County, where the town of Myrtle Beach is famous as a tourist destination, according to Yahoo. 

  Luckily, there have been no fatal shark attacks in South Carolina since 1852. But in 2012, South Carolina had a worryingly high level of incidents, when five attacks were reported.

  Picture: Myrtle Beach

• New Zealand

  Despite its size, New Zealand has a relatively high incidence of shark attacks, according to The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

  Since 1852 there have been 44 recorded unprovoked attacks (compared with 39 in the whole of Europe since 1847). 

  A third of New Zealand attacks occurred between Ōamaru and the Otago Peninsula, probably because sharks are attracted by the high numbers of seals, dolphins and pilot whales in that area.

  Picture: A flower tribute at Muriwai Beach near Auckland, New Zealand, after a shark killed Adam Strange in 2013.

• Mexico

  Mexico has had 42 shark attacks (22 fatalities) since 1880.

  Picture: People walk along Troncones beach in Mexico’s Pacific Coast village of Troncones in 2008, after sharks  attacked three surfers in the area in less than a month, two fatally. 

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