Moment Brit is attacked by shark in heart-pounding footage: Diver ‘dumbfounded’ after predator makes beeline for him

This is the terrifying moment a British diver is attacked by a shark.

Gary Virgo, 66, was exploring Fury Shoal, off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea, when his diving partner spotted the predator above him.

Soon after, the oceanic whitetip shark dropped to his level, circling closer and closer, before closing in and ramming him.

Gary, from Peacehaven, East Sussex, said: ‘He came towards me and then headbutted me.

‘The force of it pushed me back into the water – my legs went up.

Gary Virgo with a catch of a trip. Mr Virgo, from Peacehaven, East Sussex, said: ‘He came towards me and then headbutted me’

‘It disrupted my breathing a bit because I was stunned, I just couldn’t believe it – that wasn’t the intention.’

Oceanic whitetip sharks have a reputation for aggression and were described by oceanographer Jacques Cousteau as ‘the most dangerous of all sharks’.

They are also blamed for the infamous 1945 attack on the crew of the USS Indianapolis, which was left adrift in the Pacific Ocean after their ship was sunk by the Japanese.

But Gary is an experienced diver who knows how to behave around sharks, so the encounter came as a shock.

He said: ‘I just thought, ‘OK, brace yourself’ and see what actually happens.

‘I didn’t intend to intimidate him any more and I just stuck to my guns and stuck to what I’m used to in training.

“Normally when they come to you they turn around at the last minute and leave, but he just came in.”

The shark as it swam in the water above Gary

You can see the shark swimming in Fury Shoal with a few fish around it

Then it goes to the diver

You see the shark as it bumps Gary and he tumbles into the water

“I think to myself: this shouldn’t happen.” There was no warning, it was just a blow, straight at me. I was astounded, I have to admit.”

The attack caused Mr Virgo, a welder, to abandon the dive.

“Me and my dive buddy were only in the water for nine minutes, and we were supposed to be in the water for 45 minutes,” he said.

“I signaled him and said, ‘we’re going upstairs,’ because I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to get out of the situation, just in case.’

“What I said to myself was, ‘I’m glad I’m okay, I’m glad I’m okay back at the boat,’ because you’re looking over your shoulder even as you swim back to the boat.”

The shark then flees the scene. The attack caused Gary, a welder, to stop the dive

The shark approaches just before the terrifying encounter

Gary thinks the shark may have attacked because of his diving equipment.

He said: ‘I have a Tigger diving hood that I bought in Scotland that is orange, yellow and black, like a tiger.

‘I’ve read that they don’t like yellow and orange; it’s the colors they go for.

‘Also my dive computer was beeping because I was rocking in the water – I was going up and down because I was spinning around and following him.

“So that’s another reason. I think it was the noise.”

The encounter hasn’t dampened Gary’s enthusiasm for sharks, however.

He said, ‘I love sharks. My goal is to go cage diving with the great white sharks, that’s on my bucket list, so to speak.’