Holding the Shark

By Chloe Shakesby

**EXCLUSIVE**

AN UNBELIEVABLE photo has captured the moment that a man took hold of a 150-pound shark for a full minute.

In the picture, a diver holds a seven-foot long Caribbean reef shark vertically in his arms,
floating peacefully together.

The shark is in catatonic immobility, a dream-like state that sharks enter when receptors on their heads are stimulated.

The incredible encounter was pictured by underwater videographer Tanner Mansell (28) from Jupiter, USA.

Tanner caught the moment in Nassau in the Bahamas, snapping his friend Chang lulling the
shark into the state of catatonic immobility.

“Catatonic immobility is kind of like a hypnosis, a reflex that causes a temporary state of
inactivity in the shark,” said Tanner.

“Chang and the shark were like this for about a minute where the shark and him twirled around, like a dance.

“It was beautiful to see a predator that is perceived to be so dangerous and negative to look so at peace and calm in the arms of a man.”

ENDS