Recently, Storyful released a video showing a tourist casually swimming alongside a group of nurse sharks in the waters of the Maldives, astonishing many viewers.
The footage, captured by a drone, reveals dozens of nurse sharks swimming and hunting for prey off the coast of the Maldives. Simultaneously, the video features a tourist swimming alongside the sharks, seemingly unaware of the potential danger.
After the video was posted on Instagram on June 26, it quickly garnered significant attention from users. Many expressed their amazement upon viewing the footage.
The tourist swims casually with the nurse sharks.
Nurse sharks (also known as Ginglymostoma cirratum) can grow to lengths of 3 to 4.5 meters and can weigh up to 300 kilograms, living between 25 to 35 years. Unlike many other shark species that chase their prey, nurse sharks typically swim along the ocean floor, using their mouths to suck in food like a vacuum cleaner.
They are generally slow-moving and not aggressive, often swimming away when approached by humans. However, if provoked in any way, their bites can be life-threatening due to their powerful jaws filled with thousands of small, serrated teeth.
According to reports before 2022, there were approximately 51 provoked attacks and 5 unprovoked attacks attributed to nurse sharks. Currently, nurse sharks rank fourth among shark species that frequently attack humans.
