Andre Hartman, 'Shark Whisperer,' Puts Great White Sharks In Trance With Touch Of Hand (PHOTO)

Forget dog and ghost whisperers, Andre Hartman takes the cake with his current title: shark whisperer. Yes it is as cool as it sounds and we have the photo to prove it.

Off the coast of South Africa, near Dyer Island, Hartman greets a great white shark through the water by placing his hand on its snout to put it in a trance and make it open its mouth, the Telegraph reports in their "Pictures of the day" gallery.

Hartman, a South African diving guide, had his first encounter with a great white shark in 1977 according to an article by X-Ray Magazine.

“It tried to bite me! I was spear fishing at the time and carrying a lot of fish," he told the magazine. "It came in and tried to take me. I saw it coming, so I gave it the gun. It didn’t like it, so it swam away.”

Years later, the Discovery Channel featured him in the documentary "Great White Sharks: Uncaged" where he swam unprotected with a group of the sharks.

Doug Perrine, the American photographer who was able to capture the classic moment, explained Hartman's technique behind the hypnosis to the Daily Mail.

"This part of the shark's body is loaded with nerve endings, and the creature's sensory system became overloaded from the stimulus," Perrine told the Daily Mail. "The shark seemed to enter a pleasant, but confused state where it was dreamily seeking the source of the stimulus. So there was no trigger for the shark to attack anything."

Check out some other awesome animals in the news:

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Comments

[peterphx12]

10:31 PM on 05/15/2012

The hand of an angel that heals, oh so heavenly...but if he keeps on doing it he may lose his hand someday...there'll be an angel with one hand.

[KIVPossum]

02:05 AM on 04/21/2012

The drunk moose cracked me up

[Wombat 123]

06:18 PM on 04/20/2012

If this guy was really brave he would try that trick with my mother in law.

[ppswg]

02:41 PM on 04/20/2012

SEEING THOS BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS DEAD IS SICKENING, I AM STILL AT A MIST WHY THEY DID NOT TRY TO TRANQULIZE THEM FIRST...BUT GIVE A REDNECK A GUN AND THEY HAVE TO KILL SOMETHING...CAN'T SEEM HELP THEMSELVES...

[trussia1]

01:43 PM on 04/20/2012

Yikes, it jaws!!

[the taoist]

01:25 PM on 04/20/2012

soon to be nicknamed Lefty...................

[infinitestealth]

12:54 PM on 04/20/2012

Sharks care nothing about what these people are talking about and he will lose much more than a hand one day. Now, waiting for someone to copycat that crap. See what happens! Particularly with great Whites.

[LSULinebacker64]

12:51 PM on 04/20/2012

Everyone has their favorite animals on earth.... There's a couple I really like a lot because of their beauty and size plus because they're of the WILD....Excuse my name but the BENGAL TIGER is one of the most beautiful animals on this earth.... It's Beauty, Strength, Power, & Size.... The other one is the GREAT WHITE SHARK.... Once again the Sleek Look, Size, Speed & Power....

Both of these animals are near Extinct because of Man.... It's man just wanting their Trophy of fun.... To dress their office up.... Both are Dangerous Animals on earth but it's just nature and life.... Just neither are as dangerous as MAN alone....

[Lillie2012]

12:43 PM on 04/20/2012

Show of hands for those who think this guy will someday lose his!!! Man, that drunk moose bears an uncanny resembelance to my ex-husband!! He even ended up in a tree a couple of times as well, but his problem wasn't too many fermented apples.

[oceanleaper7]

12:24 PM on 04/20/2012

Hmmm, wonder if this will work on a pissed off Pit Bull?

[Crisdean Wulver]

11:40 AM on 04/20/2012

The Last Great Shark Whisperer:
http://www.i-mockery.com/halloween/greatest/pics/jaws-6.gif

:-)

[mygailbaby]

12:03 PM on 04/20/2012

LOL! I hope "his magic" never fails.

[wolfiechat]

11:33 AM on 04/20/2012

OK! But I would have to pass on trying it myself!

[mvcharet]

11:29 AM on 04/20/2012

He's an Idiot! We all know what happend the Aussie of a few years ago who was killed by a sting ray!

[Gizmo9]

05:05 PM on 04/20/2012

My thoughts exactly. When I see these guys bugging these wild animals it is only a matter of time before they get chewed up. It's an ego thing.

[Vince Vaccaro]

11:28 AM on 04/20/2012

Remember the guy that thought he could "communicate" with wild bears? He ended up on the menu one night .......

[shootr687]

11:22 AM on 04/20/2012

Humans have differences in physiology. If great white sharks do also, one day Andre will not be known as the shark whisperer but as Lefty.

[racerrodig]

11:28 AM on 04/20/2012

That's kind of what I was thinking. It's a shark. I had one bad experience with a large shark when I was 17. All I know was we needed a bigger boat so I cut the line of the friend who was foolishly trying to land it. 4 lives spared......1 less friend.

[shootr687]

11:43 AM on 04/20/2012

Same thing here except for the foolishness. The shark was almost half the size of the boat and there were two kids on board. Two of us worked at tiring it out, we brought it alongside the boat, it rolled over exhausted, pictures were taken and then it was released (line cut).

[serfdood]

12:11 PM on 04/20/2012

If he keeps swimming with them, as they mentioned he did in a Discovery Channel documentary, he'll one day just be know as "dead".

[shootr687]

01:25 PM on 04/20/2012

I remember watching as Steve Irwin hung precariously on steep cliffs, reaching into crevices and pulling out poisonous snakes. I knew one day that behavior would catch up to him. Unfortunately I was correct. I did enjoy his attitude about the animal world. He is missed by many.