--- description: Discovery is airing a Shark Week special on Tuesday before the main event kicks off July 5 title: This Video of a Shark Entering a Diver's Cage Will Get You Ready for Shark Week image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c11b9f63c17b43f/69885804a988ca51f56b32b5/shark-week.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Video of a Shark Entering a Diver's Cage Will Get You Ready for Shark Week  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 23, 2015 7:46 PM CUT  August 18, 2011 Guadalupe Island Mexico. The Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is found in all the major oceans of the world. Achieving over 20' in length, Great White Sharks migrate annually to Guadalupe Island, a volcanic island located 160 miles west of Baja California. The Great Whites arrive annually mid July, in time for the pupping of fur seals on the island and vacate the area in mid December. (AP Photo/Jim Mahoney) August 18, 2011 Guadalupe Island Mexico. The Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is found in all the major oceans of the world. Achieving over 20' in length, Great White Sharks migrate annually to Guadalupe Island, a volcanic island located 160 miles west of Baja California. The Great Whites arrive annually mid July, in time for the pupping of fur seals on the island and vacate the area in mid December. (AP Photo/Jim Mahoney)Jim Mahoney—AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 23, 2015 7:46 PM CUT With a record 19 hours of primetime programming planned for this year, [Shark Week](http://time.com/money/4383754/how-to-watch-shark-week/ "undefined") has never been a bigger beast. To celebrate, Discovery is diving deep into the annual summer TV event’s history with _Shark Week Sharktacular_, premiering Tuesday, June 23 at 10 p.m. The hour-long special, hosted by actor-director Eli Roth, will count down fans’ favorite moments from the past 27 years and sink its teeth into fan-submitted viral shark videos. One of those viral videos, above, offers an alarming lesson for shark enthusiasts: shark-proof cages aren’t always shark-proof. “There are circumstances when the shark swims at the right angle that it just finds itself in the cage,” says marine biologist Tristan Guttridge. Because sharks can’t just swim backwards out of the cage, they try and free themselves with a death roll, putting divers at serious risk for harm. “Now you’ve got a blender,” says shark researcher Michael Domeier, “with divers in the blender.” See what happens when one shark gets stuck in the footage, above, and catch Shark Week when it returns July 5. ### Three Shark Photographers You Need to Follow  The water column is a three-dimensional habitat for sharks. Instead of traveling horizontally across the ocean, many species, like blacktip sharks, bounce up and down, repeatedly descending and ascending through the water column, in hopes of picking up any signs of prey. Aliwal Shoal, South Africa. Thomas P. Peschak  A Red Sea Silky Shark. To survive in the vastness of the open ocean, Silky sharks rely on their boldness and curiosity to investigate every opportunity that might yield a meal. Sharks make up for their lack of hands to investigate things, with thousands of tiny pores, called the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which line the shark’s snout. Northern Red Sea. Thomas P. Peschak  The whale shark is the world’s largest fish, born with unique spotted skin patterns, which don’t change significantly as the animal ages. Scientists are using the latest in space technology developed by NASA, for fingerprinting and identifying whale sharks based on their spots. In this image scientists from the conservation NGO Manta Trust are measuring a sub-adult whale shark in Baa Atoll, Maldives. Thomas P. Peschak  Bronze Whaler sharks are the most abundant sharks during the sardine run off South Africa’s east coast every June/July. Hundreds of them patrol the margins of baitballs and charge into the seething mass of fish singly or in small groups to feed. Thomas P. Peschak  Shark fins are the key ingredient of shark fin a soup, a dish frequenlty consumed at weddings and banquets in China. It is primarily served to demonstrate wealth and honor guests. Thomas P. Peschak  Head and gills of Juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini), Kane'ohe Bay, Hawaii - Pacific Ocean. Jeff Rotman  Close-up of Spiny Dogfish Shark (Squalus acanthias) born prematurely with egg sac attached. New England, North Atlantic Jeff Rotman  Gills of a Lemon Shark at night. Jeff Rotman  Eye of Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus), Cocos Island, Costa Rica - Pacific Ocean. Jeff Rotman  Caribbean Reef Shark (Carcharhinus perezi). Bahamas, Caribbean Sea. Jeff Rotman  An image of Mike Coots taken by his friend Juan Oliphant as they are swimming surrounded by sharks. ©JuanOliphant/@Juansharks ![Mike Coots “hangs out” with a great white. As he is frequently asked if he is afraid to go back to the water after the attack, Coots has no doubt: “I am positive I was attacked as mistaken identity and the last couple of days \[swimming with the sharks\] really reiterated the point. Humans are not sharks' prey.”](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45be518944f193a1/6988556755a85964a2a8c966/10693681_566496753497226_1727569935_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp) Mike Coots “hangs out” with a great white. As he is frequently asked if he is afraid to go back to the water after the attack, Coots has no doubt: “I am positive I was attacked as mistaken identity and the last couple of days \[swimming with the sharks\] really reiterated the point. Humans are not sharks' prey.” Mike Coots  While babysitting his 6-year-old nephew, the little boy showed the toys to Coots. "It's you uncle Mike," he said. Mike Coots ![Coots has been able to return to surf after the shark attack, wearing a prosthesis for his right leg.
Coots was just a teenager when a tiger shark attacked him in the deep water of Kauai, an area known to be populated by sharks. ](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51ee2563a1a619f/69885568e20a872b9fa8bee1/10616310_705214359563854_135859936_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp) Coots has been able to return to surf after the shark attack, wearing a prosthesis for his right leg. Coots was just a teenager when a tiger shark attacked him in the deep water of Kauai, an area known to be populated by sharks. Mike Coots  Coots took this photograph with Hero3, a waterproof camera. He observed the white shark being hesitant before eating its meal. “Incredibly beautiful to watch and I never felt threatened once. Completely serene,” Coots wrote on his Instagram feed. Mike Coots ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/"},"headline":"This Video of a Shark Entering a Diver's Cage Will Get You Ready for Shark Week","datePublished":"2015-06-23T19:46:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:52.247Z","description":"Discovery is airing a Shark Week special on June 23 before the main event kicks off July 5","url":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/","keywords":["Sharks","Television","Shark Week"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c11b9f63c17b43f/69885804a988ca51f56b32b5/shark-week.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c11b9f63c17b43f/69885804a988ca51f56b32b5/shark-week.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Great White Shark","caption":"Great White Shark","creditText":"Jim Mahoney—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/","name":"This Video of a Shark Entering a Diver's Cage Will Get You Ready for Shark Week"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","description":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vgQtqA8c/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-22T13:42:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3932535/shark-week-viral-video-divers-cage/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```