I was attacked by a GW shark

[billt4sf]

wow, this one really hit close. I need to reconsider diving there in the future

I would not worry about it if I were you. There definitely are GW sharks around Monterey Bay, sure. I think it's pretty rare to find them in the Breakwater or in Pt. Lobos Whaler's cove. This guy was on the surface in his kayak. I think as a diver you're probably much safer. But there have been incidents over the years, sure.

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

I guess you are not familiar with Dr. Ingrid Visser or basic facts that no orca in the wild has attacked a human (there has been a case of it stealing a goody bag of someone spearfishing, but that doesn't qualify as an attack in my book).

Hopefully if you decide to educate yourself, you can see your paranoia is meritless.

OK thanks.

 

[drrich2]

That's interesting about the orcas. On the one hand, yes, they reputedly have a good track record for not attacking people. On the other hand, they are...

1.) Intelligent creatures with individual personalities and I suspect capable of 'playing' with objects in their environment.

2.) Have no known religious, moral or other 'ethical' prohibitions against 'playing with' or 'investigating' a human.

3.) On casual observation, we've no way to know if one is a 'weirdo,' sick, having a bad day, etc...

4.) Are massive and very powerful; an inadvertent tail slap could seriously injure a human.

All theoretical concerns. Maybe nothing bad will ever happen. If the opportunity came up, maybe I'd get in with them. But I wouldn't get off the boat first, and I might watch how they reacted to whoever did.

Richard.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

All theoretical concerns. Maybe nothing bad will ever happen. If the opportunity came up, maybe I'd get in with them. But I wouldn't get off the boat first, and I might watch how they reacted to whoever did..

Given their track record, I won't hesitate. I hope others hesitate so I get the best pics!

 

[Markdd8]

We can expect to see increased encounters with the great white along the California coast during upcoming years, as the population rebounds. It is fortunate if you can just see one of these magnificent sharks passing by, but the reality is that there is a small but real risk of an encounter going bad. One wonders where we will be at in 15-20 years; hopefully we will not see the rate of attack that Australia has.

 

[chris_the_brit]

A video has surfaced of this encounter. Some quite impressive shark/kayak action at about 1:00 and the kayaker is picked up by the boat at around 4:00.

Couple Films Kayaker Being Attacked By A Shark In Monterey Bay, California

 

[tridacna]

Great White attack on kayak, Plettenberbay South Africa, Des. 2016.

Bliksem!

 

[ScubaSteve85]

Pretty clear from the video that the shark got stuck in the kayak when the it flipped over. Looked like he freaked himself out and swam off. Glad this played out the way it did. What an incredible situation though. I would not have been as calm as this guy was, that's for sure!

 

[Ted Judah]

A video has surfaced of this encounter. Some quite impressive shark/kayak action at about 1:00 and the kayaker is picked up by the boat at around 4:00.

Couple Films Kayaker Being Attacked By A Shark In Monterey Bay, California

 

[Ez E]

Whoa. Thats scary.