In Reply to: Basking shark in Monterey - pics posted by Eric S on July 26, 2011 at 20:52:59:

Eric, thanks for sharing Jim's photos. That's the way to enjoy a rare sighting of a basking shark. Here's what happens when you cross a basking shark with someone of few brain cells;

When Erik Jacobs came face to face with a giant shark, he says the spirit of the sea inspired him to jump in for a closer look.

But as you can see in the video, when Jacobs got close to the 20-foot basking shark off the coast of Chatham, common sense quickly had him making a mad dash back to safety.

Jacobs says he has no regrets about taking the plunge especially since his amazing footage has netted more than 10,000 Youtube hits in less than a day.