While studying the population of the Great Whites in Monterey Bay, marine biologists found themselves a little too close for comfort with the large fish.

Captain and marine biologist Giancarlo Thomae set out on a mission to prove that the greatly misunderstood animals are not the man-eating monster they are made out to be. The sharks can be seen in the video calmly circling the kayaks of the marine biologists. Giancarlo insists that these sharks are fish eaters and are repelled by splashing, so swimmers need not be scared; these folks don’t want anything to do with you. Credit: Giancarlo Thomae via Storyful