Yahoo! News confirms a rare encounter with a five-meter-long Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) off Bali’s Nusa Penida Island on Wednesday, 12 March 2025.
The encounter, captured on camera, depicted the shark that experts now feel may have been pregnant.
The Great White Shark has been made unfairly infamous by its depiction as a ferocious and relentless man-eater in the Peter Benchley and Steven Spielberg motion picture franchise – “Jaws.”
Despite their notoriety as “monsters,” human beings are not among the preferred dietary delights the Great White enjoys. Great whites are nonetheless credited with the largest number of fatal unprovoked attacks on humans. Yet, such attacks are rare, averaging fewer than 10 times per year globally.
In Bali, a group of divers witnessed an up-close-and-personal encounter with the pregnant 5-meter-long shark off Nusa Penida Island,
Visiting diver Fabian Clinton watched in awe as the 5-meter-long great white shark swam towards him off the coast of Nusa Penida in Bali.
Describing his reaction at meeting a Great White during his Bali dive, Clinton used the term “Complete Shock” as just one of the emotions his group of divers experienced.
The video posted on Instagram showed the giant predator swimming nonchalantly beside the group of divers at a depth of 22 meters. Adding to the drama, the video shows increased curiosity by the shark that swam closer and closer to the group of divers.
Divemaster Fabian Clinton carried the underwater camera in a group led by Scuba Junkie Penida, who regularly conducts underwater tours at Nusa Penida to see marine life, including sunfish, manta rays, and turtles.
The GoPro was attached to divemaster Fabian Clinton, who was part of a group led by Scuba Junkie Penida, which conducts tours to see marine life, including sunfish, manta rays, and turtles.
Initially, Clinton saw the dark shadow in the distance. Impressed by the size of the shadow, he investigated further by following “the fish.”
At closer examination and suddenly realizing the fish was a great white, he gestures to the group, making them aware of the proximity of the giant predator.
Clinton posted that when the great white took a greater personal interest in him, “time slowed down, and he became aware of his mortality.” Continuing, he added: “My first thought was oh f***, sorry mum, I shouldn’t be here,” the 31-year-old Swede told Yahoo News.
Fabian Clinton says he exchanged shared stares with the shark for around 20 seconds, and then the two parted ways.
Another diver in the group, Dutch national Amber Doornekamp, said: “The size of the shark was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It reminds you of how small people are.”
While Clinton made a tactical retreat, the shark eventually departed the scene.
Climate change and rising ocean temperatures may be partly to blame for the changing ocean habitats of the great white shark.
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