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February started off with an amazing encounter for divers at Vakarufalhi: a Great Hammerhead Shark! In fact, according to Antonio, this was not only a rare sighting of this shark species, but pretty spectacular due to the shark’s size!

Vakaru divers were on their full day trip, diving on the west side of Ari Atoll, enjoying reef shark action, when Vittoriano, one of the divers, pulled Antonio by his fin. A bit annoyed at first – you know how you don’t want to be disturbed when you’re filming shark action in the Maldives – Antonio turned around to check on the diver and found himself face to face with the biggest Great Hammerhead Shark he had ever seen! It was coming from the channel and was swimming pretty fast toward the divers, mouth open and head moving from side to side. The close encounter seemed to have caught both Antonio and the shark by surprise, and after the initial slight shock on both sides, the shark quickly swam away.

You know how the saying goes: ‘No video, no proof!’ – so we are thrilled to show you the short video footage that Antonio managed to take of this truly fabulous underwater encounter. Note that due to the wide angle shot, the shark looks way smaller than it actually was!

A special thanks to Vittoriano Ummarino for pulling Antonio’s fin!

Join Vakarufalhi Prodivers as they explore the stunning Ari Atoll – besides stunning thilas, three wonderful wrecks, the possibility to see manta rays and whalesharks throughout the year, there is a healthy shark population to be seen too, and every now and then even the most magnificent sharks of them pay a visit to the nearby coral reefs.