Diver Miraculously Survives Terrifying Moment 16ft Shark Smashed Into Glass Tank

Credit: Discovery Channel

A diver filming underwater with a glass tank almost escaped the jaws of death after a shark rushed up and slammed through it.

Shark Week is well-known to Discovery Channel viewers, and the crew members who put it all together sometimes risk their lives to document extraordinary animal behaviors.

Jimi Partington came considerably closer to a great white shark than anyone would really want to while filming a documentary called Great White Open Ocean.

Credit: Discovery Channel

Jimi may be seen filming underwater while sitting in a plexiglass tank that allows him to control the camera while it is submerged in the water.

Another underwater camera managed to capture Jimi being attacked by a shark when it became interested in him.

It's interesting to note that the shark initially avoided the diver's glass tank by giving it a strong bump before going straight for it.

Credit: Discovery Channel

It supports the findings of numerous specialists on marine life who have observed that sharks don't always move in for the kill immediately away.

Instead, the shark's initial attack was "not entirely predatory," and it appeared that its primary goals were to push the weird object away from the area and learn more about it.

When the shark finally launched a full-fledged attack, it smashed through the glass tank like it wasn't there, and Jimi just managed to avoid being caught in its jaws.

Credit: Discovery Channel

He might have died if he had been swallowed by the shark, his body torn to pieces by the predator's many teeth.

Instead, Jimi narrowly avoided the shark and captured some great video that helps explain how sharks behave when they come across anything unfamiliar in the wild.

When the diver asked the boat what exactly had just struck him, they confirmed that a shark had become interested in him after he claimed to have "felt a bump" against the glass tank.

Although not quite Jaw's territory at 16 feet long, the shark was nonetheless the kind that, if it charged you, would probably turn the water yellow and brown.

He was fortunate that the shark's focus was diverted by the glass tank it smashed because Jimi was able to grab onto the remaining pieces of the tank before sticking his head under the water to look for the shark.

The diver then made a safe exit from the water by swimming back to the boat.