A conservationist has snapped a picture of one of the largest great white sharks ever seen.
Photographer Juan Oliphant has challenged the public’s perceptions of sharks after snapping a photo of his fiancée Ocean Ramsey, who is a marine biologist, with the giant shark in waters off Oahu, Hawaii.
He uploaded a picture of the female great white shark to his Instagram account claiming the beast, believed to be 6.5 metres long, is the largest “ever recorded” adding the species is “severely declining”.
“I hope my conservation images like this help people to question their perceptions and realise the beauty, and importance of sharks and I hope that they inspire the kind of compassion and connection we need to have with nature and sharks, to help protect them and co-exit alongside them,” he wrote in the caption.
The picture has more than 47,000 likes as viewers were left in awe at the size of the animal.
“Amazing,” one user wrote.
“That’s one Hell of a unit,” another wrote.
In 2017, filmmaker Dave Riggs used a drone to film what was believed to be a six-metre great white off Esperance in Western Australia.
A six-metre great white was confirmed to be the largest seen off WA’s coast in 1984.
While great whites aren’t endangered they are considered vulnerable according to National Geographic.
Mr Oliphant later added two more photos, naming the shark “Deep Blue”.
But he’s yet to encounter her a second time.
“As long as there is a chance I will do everything I can to make it happen again,” he wrote.
Smaller tiger sharks left when the possibly pregnant great white came to dine on the dead whale on Tuesday, Ms Ramsey told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser .
“She was just this big beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post,” said Ms Ramsey said.
“We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day.”
with Associated Press
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