Rick Anderson must put on an oxygen tank, insert a regulator into his mouth, and jump into the water off the shore of Nobbys Beach in New South Wales, Australia, in order to see his friend.
The 6-foot female Port Jackson shark is Anderson’s friend. Anderson knows her based on her marks even though she has no name.
And she always recognizes him, according to Anderson.
“I started playing with her about seven years ago when she was just a pup about 6 inches long,” Anderson told The Dodo in 2017. “I approached her carefully so as not to spook her, then began to gently pat her. Once she got used to me, I would cradle her in my hand and talk soothingly to her through my regulator.”
“I did this each time in the first season she was here,” he said. “Then over the following seasons, she’d recognize me and would swim up to me for a pat and cuddle.
She soon got used to me — to the point where she will swim up to me when I’m going past, and tap me on the legs until I hold my arms out for her to lay on for a cuddle.”
Most divers who encounter this for the first time are in awe, he continued. “I basically treat her and the other sharks I play with as I would a dog. I don’t feed any of the sharks.”
Although port Jackson sharks are far smaller than great white sharks, all sharks tend to arouse dread, especially given how frequently the media depicts sharks as being deadly to humans. In truth, humans pose a much greater threat to sharks because they are thought to be responsible for 73 million shark deaths annually.
Anderson, who’s been scuba diving for more than 30 years and runs a dive school, hopes his friendship with this Port Jackson shark will make people less fearful of sharks.
The most common misperception about sharks, according to Anderson, is that they are all cold-blooded murderers waiting for humans to enter the sea so they can eat them.
Anderson dives with a variety of sharks in addition to Port Jacksons, including banjo sharks, grey nurse sharks, tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerhead sharks, and even the occasional great white shark.
“I have always felt comfortable swimming with these animals,” he said.
Anderson is always open to giving a shark a cuddle, and even after so many years, his friend — the Port Jackson — can’t seem to get enough of Anderson.
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