By Mr. Markus
My day started out like every other. Out on the water, searching for halibut. Never found any. I saw a school of bonito so I was trolling for them at the time when all of this madness began. At 1:03 in the video I felt a bump to the back of my kayak and you’ll notice I turn to see what it is. I saw nothing so I looked right. Nothing. Then felt the bump again and turned back to the left to see this hammerhead who looked like he meant business. He hits my kayak one more time, and thats when I decided I needed to do something about the situation. I knew that the only way I was going to be in real danger was if I was in the water. And I also knew as long as the shark didn’t hit my kayak anymore, there’s no way I would be in the water. So I chose to use my paddle to keep him away from my kayak. I had other options. There was a 3″ knife in the compartment right next to me and an oversized gaff with a 3 foot handle right behind me. Both of which I considered during the event but I preferred to not seriously hurt the shark if I didn’t have to.
I was close to a mile from help and by myself with no boats in the area. If I had been knocked in the water and was splashing around, theres a great chance the shark would have attacked me. One good bite from those teeth, that far away from any help, I almost surely would have bled out. So I did what I felt necessary to defend myself.
This is a shark that has never, in the 30 years I’ve lived in this area, been seen here. So who knows what is going through its head. And I didn’t wanna find out. I’m just glad that both myself and the shark got out of this with no permanent damage. And yes, I’ll probably be back out there fishing in the near future. The ocean is a wild place where wild things can happen. Its a risk you need to accept before you enter the waters. But more importantly, be prepared for. Never assume things are going to go the way you expect out there because your plans can be changed at any second. We must respect the ocean and share the ocean. Its not ours. Its not theirs. Its all of ours and we all depend on its health for our survival.