A shark cage diving company is facing a backlash after a great white shark lunged at divers in a metal cage before getting its head stuck and bleeding to death.
Footage taken at Guadalupe Island, in the north-western Mexican state of Baja California in October shows the shark lunging at four divers before it begins bleeding profusely, with its lifeless corpse later sinking in the water.
Mexican environmental activist Arturo Islas Allende has slammed the company, Nautilus Dive Adventures, and its owner, claiming it did not comply with safety standards and that the bars of the cage should have been built closer together so as not to leave any room for the animals to be able to fit through.
In the video, the huge shark, which is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, can be seen approaching the cage, which was hanging from the diving boat ‘Nautilus’, with at least four divers inside.
This is the moment a great white shark lunges at four divers in a cage in waters off Guadalupe Island, in the north-western Mexican state of Baja California
The shark swims up to the cage at speed but gets caught between the bars
The huge animal begins thrashing and blood quickly appears from around its gills
The shark swims up to the cage at speed but gets caught between the bars.
The huge animal begins thrashing against the metal wires to break free and blood appears from around its gills.
A second clip shows the shark’s motionless body dropping from the cage into the depths.
Local media report the shark was caught in the bars for 25 minutes but Islas Allende said ‘nobody did anything’ to help the creature.
Allende slammed the animal’s death, pointing out that the ‘great white shark is an animal that is protected under international laws’. 
The shark was filmed bleeding from its gills and died in the incident
Activist Allende slammed the situation , saying the ‘great white shark is an animal that is protected under international laws’
He claimed that the cage bars should have been tighter together to prevent animals from being able to swim between them, in compliance with safety regulations.
Allende said the area where the dive was being carried out is considered ‘the most important great white shark sanctuary on the planet.’
Nautilus Dive Adventures, who provided the cage, said in a press statement that the accident took place on October 9 and was ‘totally extraordinary,’ involving a great white shark that was ‘strangely aggressive, attacking one of the cages used by our company to dive at Guadalupe Island’.
It denied allegations that its cages were not in compliance with government safety standards.
A second clip shows the shark’s motionless body dropping from the cage into the depths
The statement added great white sharks do not usually behave violently and it was the first case that they have suffered in more than 16 years of experience.
Nautilus Dive Adventures wrote in a statement on Facebook: ‘There was an incident with a great white shark repeatedly charging one of our cages at Guadalupe Island in October towards the end of our 2019 season.
‘We were horrified, very sad, upset and worried for both the shark and our divers. We stage approximately 50,000 white shark dives every year and have been running these trips since 2003.
‘Our cages are in full compliance with all Mexican Regulations.
‘When the incident happened, we immediately notified the authorities, sent them video of the event and launched an immediate review and root cause analysis.
‘There are more sharks than ever before at Guadalupe including a large number of juveniles. Our cages are being modified to do our best to prevent this from ever happening again.’
