A woman had a frighteningly close encounter with a great white shark after reaching from a fishing boat to pet the marine apex predator. The shark suddenly thrashed around and lunged toward her, turning the attempted interaction into a heart-pounding moment for everyone aboard, as reported by The New York Post.

The woman was identified as Jen, one of the veterans participating in the outing. Her hand had been resting on the wild shark before the animal whipped around in her direction, according to an account of the incident posted on Facebook.

Jimmy Armel, founder of Knot Lucky Fishing, said the woman was never in any real danger. He explained that the crew had the shark under control throughout the encounter, even as its sudden movement rattled the people watching from the boat.

“One second Jen, one of our veterans, is laying her hand on a wild white shark like it’s the family dog, and the next second that shark whips around and lunges toward her,” the organization said in a Facebook post. “Everybody on the boat felt that one in their chest.”

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The post captured the abrupt shift from Jen touching the shark to the animal lunging. While Armel maintained that the crew remained in control, the organization’s own description made clear that the shark’s movement delivered a jolt to those who witnessed it.

The video came from Knot Lucky Fishing and its White Shark Tagging Program with Starbrite, Project SeaSafe and Gray FishTag Research. The shark shown in the footage ultimately was not tagged because of safety concerns involving both the crew and the animal.

Knot Lucky Fishing is based in Savannah, Georgia. The organization provides free fishing trips for veterans, active duty service members, and their families, placing the group’s work with military families at the center of its outings.

The White Shark Tagging Program involves catching, tagging and releasing great white sharks off Tybee Island. The program collects migration data from the sharks after they are tagged and returned to the water.

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Each shark also receives a name honoring a fallen Ranger or service member. Armel said the combination allows the organization to gather migration information while keeping the names of fallen service members alive through the tagging program.

“We name each one after a fallen Ranger or service member, collecting real migration data while keeping our brothers’ names alive,” Armel tells FOX Weather. “We’ve tagged ten so far, and with the whites heading back to Tybee now, more are coming this winter.”

Armel’s comments put the number of great white sharks tagged by the program at ten. He also said more great whites were expected during the winter as the sharks headed back toward Tybee.

The shark involved in Jen’s close call did not become the program’s next tagged animal. Safety concerns for the crew and the shark prevented the team from completing that part of the process during this particular encounter.

Even with the shark untagged, the video offered a striking look at how quickly a great white can react. Jen’s attempt to treat the shark like something approachable was answered by a sudden thrash and lunge, exactly the kind of response that grabbed everyone’s attention.

Armel nevertheless stood by his assessment that Jen was not facing real danger because the crew maintained control. That assurance sat alongside the organization’s description of a moment that everybody aboard felt “in their chest.”

The incident combined the tagging program’s work with veterans and service members with an unexpectedly dramatic shark encounter. Jen reached out to touch a wild great white, and the animal’s immediate response made the risks of that choice impossible to ignore.

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