I was attacked by a GW shark

[billt4sf]

Not me. the author's first name is below. It was posted on a local Bay Area dove forum. He gave me permission to post it here.
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It was a bit past 4:30 Saturday afternoon. I was in my kayak. I had paddled from the Breakwater ramp to Shell St PG and was on my way back. I was hit off the end of San Carlos Beach about 100 yards or so off the Monterey Bay Inn - probably over Metridium. So, I was near the end of a great paddle - I encountered dolphins off Point Cabrillo and a large group of very young harbor seals close in to Hopkins Station.


Suddenly, I heard a loud Bang as my kayak and I flew into the air. I landed outside my boat, look back to it and to my horror saw a large great white shark no more than three feet away had my kayak in its mouth. I could clearly see it's 2-inch teeth and it's black eye that looked lifeless.


I scrambled away from my boat as fast as I could and started kicking towards shore - really wishing that I was wearing fins! In between yelling "No God No" I was shocked at how many thoughts about how to survive ran through my head - don't splash, don't let your legs hang down, keep your eyes on the shark and swim away, don't act like a panicked seal. After Five minutes, maybe five years - it was hard to tell, I pulled out my Nautilus Lifeline and called in a mayday to the coast guard. They were having trouble hearing me. I spotted a sail boat and started frantically waving to them with my right arm as I operated the radio with my left hand.


While this was going on, the shark was using my boat as a chew toy. I saw it spin with the boat at least three times. It started pushing the boat towards me and then left the boat and headed for me. Suddenly it dove. I put my face in the water to see if it was under me, but I couldn't see anything.


I looked up and saw the sail boat approaching me. After some very quick explanations I said that I needed to get into the small boat. There was no ladder or transom. I had been in the water for about twenty minutes. I was wearing a 3-mil, but had forgotten my booties and was bear foot. My feet were numb and I was running on nothing but adrenaline. I could not get up into the boat or stand up on their motor. I asked them to call 911 and ask for coast guard assistance.


The coast guard showed up 5 minutes later and pulled me into their boat. All my gear was floating and was recovered. They took me back to the Breakwater..


In the parking lot I spoke with the people from the sailboat who came to my rescue. They were a young family who attended NPS. They were taking their young daughter out on her first sail. According to them, the shark was as big as my boat. I have a 14-ft kayak. Bite marks show that it had the whole girth of the boat in its mouth. My boat is covered with bite marks from end to end with multiple punctures. People told me that they could see the shark slapping the surface of the water with its fins as it mauled my boat.


I had always thought that great whites hit a target to test it and then backed off. This was a prolonged attack on the surface.


I've just gotten back from a steak dinner with Scott and Nancy and a very good bottle of wine donated by their neighbor. That's why we didn't make it to Member Night at the aquarium. I'm still not sure if I will sleep tonight, or want to try. I suspect that I just joined a very small club - one I never wanted to join!

- Brian

 

[Anthony A.]

Wow. I bet the kayak was stuck in the GW's mouth, and it kept trying to shake it off. To be in the water for almost 30 mins while splashing around and not attacked is pretty incredible. Curious how long it will be until he gets the urge to go kayaking again.

 

[Diver0001]

That's why we didn't make it to Member Night at the aquarium.

I've heard some good excuses in my day, but this one deserves an award!

In all seriousness though, HOLY FK!

R..

 

[noj3333]

I'd love to see pictures of the kayak...

 

[Bubblesong]

You may find shark tooth souvenirs in that kayak.

 

[lexvil]

It was surprisingly calm around breakwater yesterday if there had been an attack the afternoon before, no Coast Guard movement no cops no signs which I would have expected to be the human response, none of these things would help but humans are pretty predictable.

Do the Coasties file public reports?

 

[Fransw]

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

 

[drbill]

Read this on an e-mail server earlier this morning. Back in 1971 I was paddling in a Klepper folboat double kayak and had a huge tiger shark bump our kayak 3 miles off Bahia de Kino in the Sea of Cortez. About 1976 had a great white follow my boat on the backside of Catalina as I led a kayak trip arounds the island. We've had paddleboarders and kayakers followed and/or bumped off their boards on both sides of the island. That's why I only SCUBA dive these days... no more kayaking, paddleboarding, surfing, surface swims, etc.

 

[Dan]

Read this on an e-mail server earlier this morning. Back in 1971 I was paddling in a Klepper folboat double kayak and had a huge tiger shark bump our kayak 3 miles off Bahia de Kino in the Sea of Cortez. About 1976 had a great white follow my boat on the backside of Catalina as I led a kayak trip arounds the island. We've had paddleboarders and kayakers followed and/or bumped off their boards on both sides of the island. That's why I only SCUBA dive these days... no more kayaking, paddleboarding, surfing, surface swims, etc.

You mean there is a lesser chance we'll be attack by the GW while SCUBA diving than kayaking in Catalina island? I thought we look more like Sealion during diving. I'll be going diving there in September. Now I'm worried about getting attacked by GW there.

 

[drbill]

My biggest fear when I moved to Catalina back in 1969 was an encounter with a great white. I bought the biggest, baddest "Jim Bowie style" dive knife I could. The only encounters I've had with great whites while diving here in nearly 50 years have been at a distance with no aggressive behavior... and those were very rare indeed (about once a decade). There are a very few sites I won't dive around the island due to the presence of sea lions and generally poor visibility, but I generally don't worry about the sharks. While underwater the sharks have a much better idea what we are and the bubbles are said to reinforce that we are not a good meal. At the surface one presents a profile that may appear to be that of a pinniped since we are backlit by the sun.

Don't worry, be happy diving

Back around July last year we had a 13 ft great white right in the dive park (due to a fishing boat illegally "chumming" the water on the boundary. It was sighted by four different groups of divers and they closed the dive park briefly. I happened to be in the water when they closed it and was down for a 90 minute dive. No divers (or sharks) were hurt that day.