Watch: Woman Conquers Her Fear Of Sharks By Swimming With Them

Most of us would not imagine voluntarily swimming around sharks. However, a 29-year-old teacher from Indonesia, Muthi Annuriy, confronted her lifelong fear of sharks during her recent vacation. Muthi Annuriy was on a trip to Maldives when she decided to take a swim with them. She swam with some 20-odd nurse sharks in the clear water of the Indian Ocean. Now a video of her swimming session with nurse sharks is going viral.

The fear of sharks is called galeophobia, which comes from the Greek words galeos (shark) and phobia (fear). People with galeophobia are reluctant to go to the beach, they avoid swimming or even sailing in the ocean. In extreme cases, they may even avoid watching shark-related movies or documentaries

In Maldives, there are many services that provide specialised and safe “shark snorkelling” or “shark diving” services. These services allow people to swim alongside tame shark species like nurse sharks or blacktip reef sharks. The sharks in the above-mentioned video were nurse sharks that are believed to be calm and non-aggressive towards humans.

The New York Post shared a clip of Muthi Annuriy’s swimming session with sharks on Instagram. Commenting on it, an Instagram user wrote, “Why would anyone want to tame their fear of sharks?” Another person wrote, “Why does she need to cure that fear? Seems like being afraid of sharks would be a healthy fear!”

Someone else remarked, “C’mon now! Those are Nurse Sharks, you have to put a finger in them for them to be able to bite you!” People shared their experiences of swimming with nurse sharks. An Instagram user wrote, “Nurse sharks don’t do anything I’ve dived in a tank with them.” Someone else wrote, “They are nurse sharks. You don’t touch them, they won’t bother you. I did this too in the Maldives, it was fun but not scary.”

Nurse sharks are about seven to nine feet long. Unlike most large shark species, they are not greyish but yellowish-brown. They are found at the bottom of shallow coral reefs or seagrass flats. Their location makes them easier to spot. As per Oceana, an ocean conservation organisation, nurse sharks may seem harmless but it is unwise to touch them as they can launch an attack in self-defence.