Snap! Brit tourist gets VERY close to great white shark

This is the jaw-dropping moment a British tourist got up close and personal with a great white shark.

The 13-ft, 1,700-pound creature is seen lunging at the bait attached to a tourist boat in Kleinbaai, South Africa – and Joseph Butler, 23, caught it all on camera.

The geographic information system officer from Swindon said of the amazing snaps: “We can see a male great white breaching. In his jaws is the lure the crew use to bring them towards the boat, which is intended to be reeled out of the way before this exact scenario occurs.

“Contrary to what a lot of people think when they look at this, the animal is not hooked or captured in any way. He has just managed to clasp the other end of the rope between his teeth.

“Looking closely, you can see that the eyes have rolled back into the head, which is a normal reaction to protect the eye during prey capture.”

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Joseph studied marine biology and coastal ecology at university and wanted to show people the vulnerability of the great predator.

“What I love most about this kind of photography, is breaking down people’s preconceptions about nature,” he said.

“People are often shocked that one would willingly get in the ocean with great whites, with or without safety equipment.

“It is frequently found as a foreign concept when I explain that the sharks were largely uninterested in us, and that they are a lot more vulnerable than first thought.”

He added: “First impressions suggest a lethal predator stealing a piece of the equipment, when in fact it has merely managed to get hold of the lure that the crew were dangling in front of its face; not dissimilar to what happens with a common house cat.

“Although a 13ft-long, 1,700 pound shark sounds like an unstoppable force of rage, they are in fact largely being decimated by humankind with our own selfishness and brutality.”