I was descending to the bottom to catch lobster off California's Catalina Island. She appeared suddenly out of the blue murkiness. A great white shark, moving calmly just below my line of descent. At first, I couldn't even register what I was seeing because of how large and close she was. It took a moment for reality to sink in.

The shark didn’t move erratically or display hunting behaviors, which put me at ease. I exhaled deeply to descend for a closer look and nearly got a little too close in my excitement! I watched her glide past beneath me before dropping to the bottom. I watched her calmly circle our group. Just as quietly as she arrived, she swam away, leaving us with our hearts still pounding with excitement.

An unplanned encounter with a great white shark out of the cage is incredibly rare—especially with such close proximity. This was a gift, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'll be thinking about that shark for the rest of my life.

Video by Seamus Callaghan with dive operator Sundiver International