
For most it would bring back terrible memories of the scene from Jaws when the immortal line 'you're going to need a bigger boat' was uttered.

But when a team of divers spotted the largest great white shark on the planet they only hesitated to grab their cameras before they jumped into the sea.

The enormous predator named Deep Blue is up to 50 years old, weights 2.5 tons and measures 20ft long.

It was drawn to the water around Hawaii for what one diver described as an 'all you can eat buffet' - to feed on a dead sperm whale.

Deep Blue was last spotted in Mexico in 2013 where it was fitted with a tracker which is how divers were able to identify it this time.

Conservation photographer Juan Oliphant was one of the divers who took the plunge along with with marine biologist Ocean Ramsey

Ocean Ramsey swimming with Deep Blue in photos shot by Juan Oliphant after it was spotted in the water off Oahu on Sunday by Kimberly Jeffries. Deep Blue became an icon several years ago during Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, through her remarkable size and age. She is 20 feet long and thought to be 50 years old. Pictures show the pair getting remarkably close to the deadly animal

It's likely that Deep Blue grew so big simply because of her age. Before being spotted in Hawaii, the great white was caught on video in July 2018 near Guadalupe Island, off the west coast of Mexico. It was spotted feeding on the carcass of a whale

Divers could identify her as 'Deep Blue' thanks to a tag she was implanted with when she appeared off the coast of Mexico two decades ago.

Deep Blue is thought to be around 20ft long according to scientists who have previously encountered the predator, around the same height as a fully-grown giraffe

Remarkable photos shot by Oliphant show him and Ramsey swimming right next to the enormous predator.

Posting on Instagram shortly after the swim, Oliphant wrote: 'Face to face with the worlds largest great white ever recorded 'Deep Blue' with @oceanramsey.

'I'm still in shock that we spent almost the whole day with this amazing animal in my backyard.

'I hope my conservation images like this help people to question their perceptions and realize the beauty, and importance of sharks and I hope that they inspire the kind of compassion and connection we need to have with nature and sharks, to help protect them and coexist alongside them.'

Another diver who swam with Deep Blue. Kimberly Jeffries, wrote: 'If you asked me a few days ago what the most amazing thing I've ever seen in Hawaiian waters the answer probably would be pretty different.

'If you asked me yesterday the answer would be freediving with Deep Blue, a great white, the largest ever documented, who was last seen in 2013 in Mexico.

'If you asked me right now, it would be freediving with, interacting with and photographing not one but multiple, different great whites AND Deep Blue.'

Great White Breakfast Posted by Kimberly Jeffries on Wednesday, 16 January 2019

Video shot by the photographer Kimberly Jeffries and posted on Facebook shows a different great white feeding on the dead sperm whale before Deep Blue arrived.

A shark believed to be 'Deep Blue' was last spotted in footage captured by shark researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla off Mexico's Guadalupe Island in 2013

Padilla's remarkable footage from 2013 shows the stealthy predator lurking in the deep while attempting to catch prey

Footage of Deep Blue was also captured back in 2013 by shark researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla off Mexico's Guadalupe Island.

Great white sharks: Feared predators of the deep Great white sharks have such a strong sense of smell that they can detect a colony of seals two miles away

Great whites give birth to up to ten 'pups' but mothers will eat them if they don't swim off fast enough

They swim at up to 37mph at full pelt and burst out of the water from below their prey

They attack 5-10 humans every year but usually just take a 'sample bite' out of curiosity before swimming off

Great whites can live to up to 70 years old

They are colored white underneath to make them harder to see from below with sunlight shining down

They have several rows of teeth that can number into the thousands

As their teeth fall out they are replaced by razor sharp teeth in the row behind Advertisement

The video shows the enormous apex predator swimming near researchers in steel cages, with one bold enough to be swimming outside the protection of the protective metal bars.

The massive predator was also featured back in 2014 in a Shark Week documentary, when researchers tagged the gigantic fish.

Great whites, the largest predatory fish on earth, typically grow to 15 feet in length, with some, like Deep Blue, exceeding 20 feet in length and weighing up to 5,000 pounds, according to National Geographic.

German tourist Michael Maier also described filming the predator during a 2014 trip to Mexico.

Mr Maier, 48, said: 'Deep Blue is a very large female shark and she is known to be found in Mexico. When we entered the water we had to wait because there was nothing to see.

'All of a sudden out of the deep blue, there she came. We realised almost immediately that she was very big.

'She was very calm and not at all nervous and was circling us. She was very interested and was looking at us.

'During the circles we realised just how big she was - she must have been something like seven metres long. Everything was very well prepared. The whole team felt safe.

'We had a very long beautiful dive with her and we were all very much enthusiastic about the encounter.'

George Burgess, director emeritus of the International Shark Attack File at Florida Museum of Natural History, told ABC News: 'It's a very big white shark, obviously.

'One of the largest that has ever been seen in the water. She's a big girl.'

The shark got her name from Discovery Channel diver Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, who swam with the creature as part of a Shark Week documentary.