Surf
A great white shark left behind two huge teeth after biting a scuba diver’s kayak off Catalina Island at Camp Emerald Bay, off the coast of southern California.
San Diego resident Danny McDaniel was kayaking Saturday near Ship Rock, an open-water diving spot about three miles from Emerald Bay when he felt a push against his vessel, reports the LA Times. Thinking the shove came from his buddy, he was shocked he saw the head of a great white shark attached to the back of his kayak.
“I saw the snout of the shark over the back of the kayak,” he said. “Then I followed the snout up and there’s a giant, immense body off to the right side of the boat.”
John Chambers watched this encounter from about 25 feet away, shouting at Danny to hit the shark on the head. McDaniel said the experience lasted only seconds, but he knows precisely when it occurred thanks to a fitness tracker.
“My heart jumped at 4:30 exactly, about 150 yards west from Ship Rock.”
The huge fish pushed McDaniel hard enough that his kayak rotated 180 degrees, likely causing the shark’s teeth to come out. At roughly 2-inches each, initial estimations put the shark at about 19-feet long.
Great white sightings are not uncommon at Catalina Island. There were about a dozen accounts this summer, said Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach.
