This 23 feet long shark could be the world's largest ever great white shark

An imposing beast of the sea

If you consider the great white sharkto be an imposing animal, then whatever crossed Mauricio Hoyos Padilla can only be described as a real juggernaut of an animal.

The specimen was filmed in 2014, near Guadalupe Island, off the Mexican peninsula of Baja. As the shark approached, the scientist leant out of the safety cage slightly to touch him and gave him what looked like a high five!

An incredible series of events, which he recently shared on Facebook and that, rapidly, went viral. The shark, named Deep Blue, is close to 23 feet long, more than 5 times the average for the species. According to experts, Deep Blue is a female and is easily recognisable by a series of deep scars on her back. These are probably caused by other sharks during mating season.

The 50-year-old sharkhas been the subject of further research and has even been ‘tagged’ by the team who managed to track its movements. It is also revealed that the female was probably pregnant when the images were captured, making the shark even bigger.

An unlikely encounter

Michael Domeier, president of the Marine Conservation Science Institute of Waikoloa, Hawaii explains:

In this video, it seems that the diver cannot resist the temptation to reach out and touch the shark, but what happens when diving with sharks is that you have to reach out and distance yourself from it.

Guadalupe is an island located 164 miles west of Ensenada, Baja, California. Although it is home to a wide variety of marine wildlife, Deep Blue remains the largest great white ever seen in the region.

Check out the video above to see the incredible encounter!

Video Sources: Facebook @Mauricio Hoyos Padilla