Rick Anderson puts on his oxygen tank, the regulator and dives into the ocean to meet his underwater friend. Anderson befriends a 6-foot shark Port Jackson that lives in the waters off Nobbys Beach in New South Wales, Australia. Andersen recognizes the shark by some markings.

“I first met her and became friends with her about seven years ago. At that time the shark was still very small – 6 inches. I slowly approached her and began to stroke her slowly. The underwater creature was not afraid of me and thus we became friends,” Anderson told The Dodo in 2017.

“From the beginning, I was the first to swim up to her. But next season, the shark already trusted me so much that started swimming up to me the first and aksing for a hug!” he said.

“Many divers who witnessed this scene could not believe their eyes. I didn’t feed the shark, I just played with it,” he added.
Port Jackson sharks are not as big as white sharks. It is reasonable to argue, sharks are not as dangerous to people as people are to them. About 73 million sharks are killed by humans every year.

Anderson believes that sharks are wrongly considered so dangerous and scary. A diver with 30 years of experience wants to show how friendly and harmles they can be.

People consider sharks to be killers that lie in wait for people and wait for the right moment to devour them, but Anderson proves the opposite with his experience.

He claims to have swam with different types of sharks: banjo sharks, gray nurse sharks, tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerhead sharks and even the strange great white shark did not behave aggressively around him.

Every time diving under the water Anderson is looking forward to his unusual friend.