TERRIFYING footage has captured the moment two scuba divers came face-to-face with the world’s “creepiest” shark.
The divers were exploring an aquarium inside a shopping centre in Dubai when the one-eyed beast stared them down.
3The moment a shark got inches from two diversCredit: You Tube/ts_Weebo3The pair were inside an aquarium in a Dubai shopping centreCredit: You Tube/ts_Weebo
Gripped onlookers watched as the enormous shark with deformed gums and bizarrely-protruding teeth swam just metres away from them.
The divers seemed amazingly calm in the face of the deadly predator.
Shocking images showed the pair trying to hold their nerve as the sand tiger shark got closer and closer.
At the last moment, the creature turned away and left the divers unscathed.
One of the divers posted the video of the spine-chilling close encounter on YouTube and admitted: “Every time I’m at that mall I am just waiting to see someone in there get ripped to pieces.
“Well, now the time came for me to be that person.”
They went on: “This shark obviously has the craziest teeth out of all of the sharks in the tank… he was in my face.
“There’s everyone watching, just waiting for that mauling… and of course, I thought it was the end.”
The clip was soon flooded by comments from horrified YouTube viewers unable to believe what they had just seen.
“I really applaud that guy,” one wrote. “He looks super uncomfortable and unsettled when the shark got that close, but he definitely did an amazing job staying calm and keeping his composure.
“Those things are so much bigger in person, I don’t know if I could do something like this.”
Another user added: “It looks particularly ugly because it’s missing an eye and has deformed gums.”
While a third said: “I have never been so scared watching a YouTube video. My heart was in my stomach watching it…
“This is the closest I’ll ever get to any sharks. Mad respect for all of you.”
Sand tiger sharks, which are an endangered species, usually only attack humans in self-defence.
It isn’t known how the shark lost its eye, or what led to its deformed appearance.
The Dubai Mall Aquarium, where the animal is housed, offers visitors the opportunity to “walk with the world’s ultimate predators wearing an oxygenated helmet that allows you to breath underwater”.
Its website boasts that “there are over 400 sharks and rays in the tank, including the world’s biggest collection of sand tiger sharks”.
3The sand tiger shark was missing an eye and had deformed teeth and gumsCredit: You Tube/ts_Weebo