Terrifying Moment Great White Shark Attacks Cage Causing Diver To Swim For His Life

People have been left gobsmacked by footage which shows a terrifyingly close encounter between a diver and a great white shark. Watch here:

It's questionable why you'd put yourself in a see-through box in shark ridden waters without an adequate cage or lid to secure you.

However, shark diving expert Jimi Partington decided to position himself out in the Open Pacific to get a closer look at the fascinating animals.

Little did he know he'd end up surviving 'the unthinkable'.

In the clip from the film Great White Open Ocean, part of Discovery Channel's Shark Week, a great white can be seen swimming past the clear box which contains Partington, getting closer and closer each time.

Partington explains how he's already had 'two bumps' from the shark which felt 'pretty deliberate' and was getting 'more fired up' each time.

Suddenly, the shark looms towards the box, gnashing its jaws before throwing them around the box, thrusting Partington up and out.

The video has amassed over 100,000 views, with Instagram users having flooded to the post in a frenzy to comment.

One said: "I am looking forward to watching this with much anticipation. Looks like a nail biter!?!"

"Would I do this? Absolutely not," another said.

A third commented: "Yes, shark week!! This looks absolutely insane!"

The film took three years to make, but what first started out as a project to help Partington overcome his PTSD from another encounter in 2020 which saw him 'nearly die in the jaws of a great white', turned into an almost deadly affair.

Shark Week captioned the clip: "In 2020, one man survived the unthinkable: a human shark breach in the open Pacific.

"Two years later, an encounter with New Zealand’s great whites brings diving expert #JimiPartington (@jimipartingtonsdx) inches away from his most revered challenge - and holy grail."

Director producer of the series Jeff Kurr explained how Partington 'actually survived being hit from below by a 16-foot Great White'.

He said: "We were able to capture this encounter on film, and it's probably the most spectacular sequence in Shark Week history.

"It’s also miraculous, because when Jimi was hit by the shark, he didn't get a scratch on him.

"He actually had to swim for his life back to the boat, but he was fine. But there's a lot more to this film than just that encounter."

Shark Week also clarified in the comments that both shark and diver fortunately left the close encounter 'unharmed'.

"Scientists believe that this white shark’s behavior may actually be more defensive than predatory," it added.

You can watch the 'inspiring journey unfold with Great White Open Ocean' on the Discovery Plus channel.

It first aired in the US on Sunday 24 July at 10.30pm ET/PT.