Shasta VC Jason Pressman's near-death experience

Shasta Ventures Managing Partner Jason Pressman has swum about 200 times with Great White Sharks, like he is shown with in this photo.

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Cromwell Schubarth: Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal; Email | Twitter | Google+

Shasta Ventures Managing Director Jason Pressman has swum with sharks about 200 times, something he gets kidded about from time to time.
But Pressman says his closest call in the water wasn't with a Great White Shark or any of the other so-called man-eaters, which says are very misunderstood and unreasonably threatened.
His most frightening experience was at the hands of the ocean itself, he recalled for me when I interviewed him for the Social Capital feature in this week's Silicon Valley Business Journal. Here's his account:
"It was at Cocos Island, about 300 miles due west of Costa Rica. For advanced divers, especially those who love the sharks, it’s a great place. But the currents are fast and they change quickly.
"On this dive, we were pretty deep, about 80 feet, and we were seeing lots of sharks — hammerheads, whitetips and tons of other fish.
"Then we saw a whale shark off in the distance, probably about a 30-footer. There were about six of us together, and we were swimming after the whale shark. When we went around this rock corner, the current was ripping so fast it just ripped me straight off, really fast and really far. There was no way to swim against the current and I was immediately separated from the group. I was by myself in a current that was probably three or four knots which can move you in minutes out into open ocean and you can be dead.
"I had no idea which way the currents were going or where I was. You are completely disoriented when you are underwater. And I had to make a decision as to how fast I should try to ascend. When you are all by yourself underwater, making these decisions, that is by far the scariest.

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Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1823.

Industries:

Technology, Environment

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