Dramatic video shows a diver viciously punch a wild shark and put it in a headlock after it took food from his bait box.
The water teams with sharks and exotic fish in the Bahamas as a group of divers watch them feed from a bait box full of chum which the dive guides brought to lure them with.
Chum is a bait consisting of fish parts, bone and blood, which attracts fish, particularly sharks owing to their keen sense of smell.
But the guides had failed to close the bait box properly, allowing the sharks to access the contents.
Two guides decided to stop the sharks from eating the contents of the box and go to retrieve it.
But the sharks are still hungry and refuse to stop feeding.
One diver punches a shark repeatedly and grabs it in a headlock to pull it off the box of food.
The water swirls with excited fish as the diver drags another shark away from the food by the tail.
When he eventually wrestles the food box free from the teaming waters, two sharks swim so close that they seem to skim his legs and back before the video ends.
Feeding sharks is a controversial practice because it can reduce the predators’ fear of humans and build an association for the sharks between humans and food.
The video was caught on camera by 33-year-old accountant Nicholas Jones, from the Cayman Islands.
‘This happened twice over the course of the dive,’ he said.
‘Nurse sharks are clever, and are able to use their suction and flexible manoeuvres to get food out of tight places.
‘The guide did not lock the bait box properly – twice – and proceeded to punish the sharks for their innate ability and natural reaction to accessible food on a shark-feeding dive.
‘So basically, the shark feeder lost his temper with the nurse sharks and punched them because of his own mistake. If the nurse sharks had eaten all of the chum the reef sharks would have left the ‘arena’ and the show would have been over.
‘Upon surfacing when the guide was questioned about his treatment of the sharks he responded ‘Yeah, sometimes you just have to demand some F*ing respect’.’
The water teams with sharks and exotic fish in the Bahamas as a group of divers watch on
But two divers decide that it is time to leave and they move in to retrieve the box
Hungry fish: But the sharks are still hungry and one diver punches a shark repeatedly to try to wrestle the food box free from the determined frenzy of fish
Feeding frenzy: But the sharks still circle the food source – and the divers in the Bahamas
Man vs Shark: But the divers eventually get a grip on the box and drag it away from the fish
Feeding sharks is a controversial practice because it can reduce the predators’ fear of humans and build an association for the sharks between humans and food