Diver's best pal is deadly 15-foot shark - but he compares it to a Labrador
A Florida diver has made best friends with a 15ft tiger shark - and described it as actually “fun and loving”.
Palm Beach resident Jim Abernethy has swum with sharks his whole life - specifically tiger sharks, which are in the top ten most dangerous types. Surprisingly, he claims he hasn’t come across any aggressive ones.
But now he has almost fallen in love with tiger shark Emma, who he describes as a “supermodel”, claiming she is one of the most photographed sharks in the world. He described his new best pal as “basically the Labrador retriever that comes in and sits on the couch, completely chilled and relaxed”.
Jim and Emma first met in 2001 when he removed a fishing hook from her mouth, and the two have now spent over two decades with a strong bond. Jim explained how they love to bump noses together when he gets into the water at Tiger Beach.
The pair use hand signals to communicate with each other - with Emma very much enjoying a head rub from best mate Jim. “What makes Emma so special is she is really big, she's huge and she has the oh s**t factor when you look at her like it might be the last thing you do.
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Jim has been swimming with sharks for over two decades (Jim Abernethy/Scuba Adventures.com)"But you're in the water for a short amount of time before realising she is so loving and affectionate. They [sharks] are not mindless man-eating monsters in fact they are sentient creatures just like cats and dogs," Jim explained to the Sun.
"With Emma, it's just like rolling around in the grass with your retriever, it's very fun and loving and it's how I'm able to get the selfie shots. To get a really good selfie you put the camera in your left hand and your arm straight across her mouth, that's a lot of trust."
Emma regularly joins up with Jim when he is heading out for a dive, perhaps as a thank you for the five fishing hooks Jim has removed from Emma’s mouth over the years - despite the pain it causes her, she has never shown any aggression, he said. He has also monitored her behaviour throughout ten pregnancies.
Jim claims sharks are actually "fun and loving" (Jim Abernethy/Scuba Adventures.com)Through Jim’s conservation work, he hope’s to change perceptions of sharks. He has pulled hundreds of hooks over the years and used hand signals to gain the trust of a shark - and get them to close their mouths.
He said: “When the shark that I want to help comes in, what I instinctively do is I rub my thumb to my fingertips which is a signal that means, 'do you want your head rubbed?'. When the shark comes in, I rub the head and they get trained on this signal.
“At first they're afraid but very quickly they realise that it felt good and then they come back, and after a short amount of time, they actually slow down when they see the signal. While I'm rubbing their head I let them keep going all the way to the right up to my head and the jaw is right in front of me and I look for the hook.”
A photographer and conservationist, Jim is trying to raise awareness that sharks aren't as dangerous as we think (Jim Abernethy/Scuba Adventures.com)The first hook Jim removed was from a one-eyed lemon shark which he named Captain Ron - and from that moment onwards he never looked back from becoming besties with sharks. “It’s not terrifying at all, it’s quite beautiful,” he added, “like dogs, there are some that are shy and some that are going to be friendly.”
He said to avoid a shark attack people should stay away from fishing activity - as a “fishing pier as a 24-hour buffet for sharks”. He added: “It's more important to look at your circumstances and remember that sharks don't read warning signs. Never go near anyone that is fishing. If the water is murky don't go in.”
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