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http://www.paradisesoftware.com/whiteshark.asp

Great White Shark Encounter
Location: Caribsea wreck, North Carolina
Time: July 21, 2001 approx. 11:00am
Vessel: Midnight Express, Olympus Dive Center
Skipper: Robert "Bobby" Purifoy
Photos: Click here.

Unofficial report:

We had just finished our dive on the Caribsea wreck at a depth of 85
feet, and started doing our topside surface interval. At approx
10:45, two divers, Wade Madden and <unknown diver>, had just entered
the water to begin their dive. Divemaster, Mike <unknown> grabbed his
speargun and donned free-dive gear to go after wahoo.

At approx 10:55, Mike returned to the ship in a hurry and reported
that a Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) was swimming
directly off the stern of the ship, by the trailing buoy line. Mike,
who had seen another Great White while diving in Mozambique, Southern
Africa, was certain that this was a Great White.

At approx 11:00, myself and the divers on board, who only minutes ago
had been in the water rushed to the stern to see the shark. The shark
encircled the ship several times coming within several feet of the
port side. A companion ship, Outrageous, was anchored off the port
bow and the shark also spent time visiting them.

The shark returned and swam past our ship's swim-up platform, a 12-
foot wide deck. The shark was longer than the width of the deck. The
shark cruised slowly, rolling on it's side at times, giving us a
clear view of it's white under-side. Several times, the shark's
dorsal fin broke the surface -- a truly ominous sight.

It was soon realized that the two divers were still known to be on
the Caribsea. The ship's crew quickly made plans to notify the
unsuspecting divers. The crew hastily wrote on a slate, "Great White
Shark -- No Kidding", attached the slate to a speargun, and attached
the speargun to the anchor line. By doing so, the speargun and slate
slid down the anchor line, to a depth of approx 80 feet, where the
two divers were beginning their ascent.

There was no time to do a decompression safety stop. Exit from the
water was paramount.

The shark swam back behind the trailing buoy. We could soon see the
fizzy bubbles coming to the surface indicating that the divers had
decided to make their ascent. Everyone was instructed to back away
from the stern and give the crew room. Captain Bobby loaded his
speargun and took aim at the shark to provide cover, while the divers
surfaced and hurridly scrambled hand-over-hand over the trailing line
to the awaiting ladders. You could see the look of terror on their
faces through their masks. Everyone on board shouted "Hurry! Hurry!"
but were quickly silenced by the crew, "Stop! You'll make them panic!"

Safely on board, the divers had faces of sheer excitement.

The experience of diving in the close proximity of a Great White is
an event all of us on the trip will share, and will be THE dive story
for most of us. While we didn't have the same in-water visual
experience as the the two divers and one free-diver, we were all in
the water minutes ago and only minutes away from experiencing a face-
to-snout Great White Shark encounter.
photo link
http://www.paradisesoftware.com/whitesharkphotos.asp
-- Scott A. Keen
Rescue / EAN diver, certified 1988
scott@...