SHARK? Or an optical illusion?

A: relection of the clouds [ ] or B: False Bay tax collector [ ] . Send your answers on a postcard…
People have seen some weird things appear in photos that were never there when they took the shot, like the ghostly apparition sitting next to Ouma or the headless hitchhiker push-starting your car.

In a similar vein, Zag readar David Earl Haveron posted this image on our Facebook page yesterday. Except this one appears to be legit.

“Some mates of mine took this photo, by accident, while surfing Glen Cairn reef, False Bay” wrote David, who went on to ask “…cloud reflection or tax collector?”

We’re no shark experts, but the Zag editor, who has had a sizable Johnny swim up next to him and then slowly circle, reckons the image bears an uncanny resemblance to what a great white looks like while doing a drive by. Either that, or some very smart photoshop skills / a seriously creepy reflection.

In an effort to get more veracity, we sent the image to Dive Master Brandon Kilbride, who works as a Shark Guide for cage diving operations in False Bay. He spends his day watching great whites surface and has a very good idea of what is real or fake when it comes to the men in grey suits.

“That is without a doubt a great white” said Kilbride. “If you look closely you can see the distinctive separation of grey and white and the dark black circle of its eye. The surfer sure is a lucky boy. I would guess that shark to be around 2-3 metres in size.”

While this may not do much for False Bay surfers nerves, take solace in the fact that if Johnnies were out to get us, this photo would never see the light of day. So keep those GoPros rolling – you never know what you might see.

UPDATE:
David Haveron, who sent the pic to Zag, gives us the lowdown on the accidental image snapped by his friend Mike Malan:

“My sister had given me this underwater digital camera as a present knowing I surf and obviously knew I wanted to take photos our our surf adventures. One of my mates (Byron Dilkes) asked to borrow it for a Glencairn surf and he and a mate (Mike Malan) went in with the cam (I was busy). From what they told me, Byron paddled onto reef while Mike sat on his board (where the pic was taken) obviously trying to get the hang of the camera, taking a few pics by accident. They had a surf, got a couple good pics after which Byron took the cam home and went through the photos when he came across this one.”