Forget the gentle foxtrot or the slow waltz, this daredevil diver has taught a one ton tiger shark to pirouette on the palm of his hand.
Fearless Eli Martinez, from San Juan in Texas, trained the deadly predator – named Emma – to approach him to perform the stunning shark spin.
To make the spectacular stunt possible, the 44-year-old diver strokes the shark’s nose – mere inches away from her potentially fatal jaws.
The subtle stroking motion relaxes the predator, allowing Eli to lift Emma up in the water until her powerful frame is vertical.
With the calmest of touches, Eli lets the world’s second deadliest shark perform a 180 degree spin in the palm of his hand before she swims off in the waters just off Tiger Bay, Bahamas.
Eli said: ‘I was definitely the first person to do this with a tiger shark.
‘I start by rubbing her nose, which I learned quickly relaxes her. You can palpably feel how much more comfortable she is with me.
‘As soon as I felt her relax I knew I could get her to spin around.’
Eli has been diving with sharks since 2003 and has been working with Emma for more than eight years.
He added: ‘I come back to Tiger Bay for two months every year, it’s the best place in the world to interact alongside tiger sharks.
‘Emma and I have worked together for eight years now so she recognises and trusts me. For her to allow me to do this is the ultimate trust.
‘It’s really surreal because the bigger a shark is the less trusting they become.’
Eli – who started filming the sharks as a way to interact them – first realised this could be possible by accident.
He said: ‘While filming one day one of the sharks did a 360 degree spin out of nowhere.
‘I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure whether it was about to attack so I was a bit scared, fortunately it didn’t.
‘Eventually I got to the point where I could get them to do it on command.
I still have no idea why they do it though.’
Tiger sharks have been the second most responsible of the species for human attacks – Great Whites take the formidable top spot.
Despite having documented their lives for more than 12 years, Eli continues to work to dispel the myth that sharks are mindless killers.
He said: ‘I want to share how beautiful, important and intelligent they are.
Like other animals, if they feel threatened they will attack. That’s how they have managed to survive for so long.
‘But I try to show they can also interact properly as well. There have been times I’ve had a bad time with the sharks, but no injuries.
‘At the end of the day, they’re wild killers – they can never be domesticated like a cat or rabbit.
‘Sometimes they can get a bit aggressive and remind you of that fact. But that’s just the way they are.’
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