Marine scientist almost dives into tiger shark’s open mouth, video shows. ‘We laughed’

Marine scientist Ocean Ramsey says a viral video in which she almost drops off a diving boat off Hawaii into the open jaws of a surfacing tiger shark didn’t shake her.

“I was actually laughing,” Ramsey told 9 News. “We were really excited to see her and we got back in the water and we were just grateful she was there.”

In the video, posted to Instagram, Ramsey is getting ready to enter the water in snorkeling gear when the shark surfaces beneath her swim fins.

“We laughed and got in the water with these misunderstood apex predators to conduct our usual research and collect more footage for our conservation efforts,” photographer Juan Oliphant told Fox News.

Oliphant wrote on Instagram that the shark, known as “Queen Nikki,” was probably more interested in the fish hiding under their boat.

“Tiger shark Queen Nikki aka Ali’i Nikolé is one of our favorite sharks to see,” Oliphant wrote, calling the encounter “extra exciting.”

Ramsey told Fox News she has known Queen Nikki for nearly 20 years.

“They are wild animals,” Ramsey told Today about her close encounter. “They are apex predators, but they’re not monsters.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Marine scientist almost dives into tiger shark’s open mouth, video shows. ‘We laughed’."