iStockphoto / Alessandro De Maddalena
Two kayakers from Oakland made the trip south to Half Moon Bay for a fishing trip, their first to the area, and captured some surreal footage of a massive great white shark eerily stalking one of the kayakers.
Ian Walters and his friend were on their first kayak fishing trip in the world famous Half Moon Bay which is home to Mavericks, one of the largest surfable waves on earth. And things were going well but it turned into a trip they’ll remember forever when Walters noticed the enormous fins of a great white shark pop up behind his friend’s kayak.
Taking out his camera to film, Ian Walters captured footage of the truly gargantuan great white shark swimming behind the small kayak. It didn’t show any signs of aggression but instead displayed what they perceived as curiosity.
Walters told local news in the video above “It’s disconcerting because it’s a new experience for me, not so much that the shark was doing anything scary.” He added “The crazy thing was, the dorsal would move, and the tail would move much later so you would get a sense of the size of the animal. It’s big, but I felt lucky and it was a special experience more than anything else.”
Ultimately, they were fine and the shark never showed aggression. That is the lesson that should be taken away from this as most people are inclined to think that great white sharks are born man eaters (thank Jaws for that!).
But this was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime encounter for Ian Walters and his friend. He went on to say “everyone grows up thinking the great white sharks are this mindless killing machine, but they play this really important role and generally they don’t have any interest in killing anyone.”
Asked if they would go back to Half Moon Bay for kayak fishing anytime soon, Ian Walters joked that he would but “maybe not for a minute. Maybe with a kayak or two. Maybe three.” Understandably so. It’s not as if someone who has a close encounter with a moose or a bear is rushing to come face-to-face with them again the next day. You have to let that experience marinate for a while to appreciate it.