Meet the female diver who swims with great white sharks
Amazing new footage shows the shark conservationist, Ocean Ramsey, swimming alongside a great white shark in the waters of Hawaii.
Ms Ramsey, who is an advocate for shark preservation, released the footage on Valentine's Day, in an attempt to show that great whites are misunderstood.
The Daily Mail reports that the footage was shot by ocean photographer Juan Olipahnt, using a HD HERO2 camera.
He captures the moment that Ms Ramsey swims up the the shark, before taking hold of its dorsal fin and hitching a ride.
Ms Ramsey explains how she watched "the shark acknowledge and observe me, while I peacefully and calmly allowed it to swim towards me, and then experiencing it accepting my touch, allowing me to dorsal and tail ride."
She added: "The connection felt as I repeatedly pet and hitched a ride on several of these sharks reminded me of my experience with horses." However, she admits that she wouldn't recommend that people without her experience should get in the water with great whites.
Ms Ramsey is a professional scuba instructor, surfer and advanced free diver. She studied marine biology at college and has worked as an aquarist and curator with sharks and rays at three different marine parks.
She began free diving with sharks at the age of 14 and can now stay underwater without oxygen for up to five minutes and 45 seconds.
In a posting on the website Water Inspired, an underwater photography company that raises awareness for shark conservation, she explains: "In truth, sharks are intelligent, calculated and generally very cautious about approaching humans."
She says that many people are unaware that sharks are being over-fished to the point of extinction.
In fact, The Express reports that the great white has been declared an endangered species in California, after experts said that there are just 339 left on the Pacific coast. They are now expected to be given the same status across the US.
Click on the image below to watch footage of Ocean Ramsey swimming with sharks...
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