Kayak Fisherman's Terrifying Encounter With Great White Shark Caught on Video
David Slavich filmed the moment a large great white shark swam perilously close to his kayak in Half Moon Bay, California.
A fisherman in California had a heart-stopping encounter with a great white shark while kayaking, with the terrifying moment captured on video. David Slavich was fishing in Half Moon Bay, approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco, on Sunday when he observed a large silhouette with a distinctive fin approaching his kayak.
"I hear this woosh, and I look over my shoulder, and I see this massive silhouette and the distinctive fin," Slavich told KRON. "This is not a killer whale, this is not a dolphin, this is a great white."
The video footage shows the shark swimming close to Slavich, who expressed his shock, exclaiming, "Oh my god, oh my god, there's a great white shark, oh my god." In response, he quickly reeled in his fishing rod to prevent the shark from snagging his line. "It's fight-or-flight mode that you go into mostly. I was like, I got to get my rig off the water. I don't want this thing pulling on my line," he explained. "So I get my rig up super-fast. You see that in the video and then I just kind of brace myself for impact. I didn't know what was going to happen."
The shark passed within inches of the kayak without incident. Slavich recalled that a paddleboarder had previously warned him about seeing a great white shark in the vicinity, a warning he had not expected to apply to him personally.
"What are the odds that I'm going to run into the shark that he ran into," Slavich said, before realizing he had indeed encountered the same predator. "There is this giant eyeball locking with my eyeballs, and it was one of the most surreal moments I've ever had in my life," he added.
Slavich expressed gratitude that the shark did not harm him and moved away from his kayak. "I think my encounter really just proves that they are not interested in eating people, that they are pretty curious," he stated. However, he acknowledged the inherent danger, noting, "Didn't mean my heart wasn't beating through my chest because they can explore my leg a bit and I won't necessarily survive that exploration."
His wife, Andrea, humorously suggested that he might refrain from future fishing trips. "No. Not unless you get a boat," she replied.
