Shark at Sunset

[laszlo]

I have always wondered how I would react to seeing a shark up close while I am in the water. Sunday I found out. I was SUP surfing at Sunset on Sunday afternoon, before the Superbowl party at my neighbor's house, and just as I started to paddle away from the break to head back to my car (on crowded days I park about a half mile up PCH and paddle over to the break) I looked down in the water and saw a 6 or 7 foot long  shark casually swim past my board, a few feet below the surface, going the other way! I yelled back to the other surfers "Shark!" and pointed my paddle  generally toward the direction he was headed. Someone asked "How big?" and I yelled back  "6 or 7 foot".  That was it. I was not nervous or scared. However I wonder if I wasn't already on my way home whether I would have  stayed in the water? I don't know. I felt pretty safe up on my board, but I wouldn't have wanted to fall in.

The fact is, now that I think about it, I have seen sharks in the water in the past, just not quite so clearly. It has never stopped me from going out, and this won't either, but it will make me think.

[supthecreek]

Hi laszlo, good story... that reminded me of the first time I surfed over one.
I was lucky enough to have lots of crystal clear water that winter, so I got to see lots of sharks, pretty much every session.

I liked to follow and study them.
It was nice to actually see that they don't even notice surfers legs as the swim past them.... they don't seem to notice people at all.

I have fallen on many of them in the following years and they just scurry away.
Mostly 5-6 ft Black tips, with others mixed in.

I posted this YouTube video that I named "Mobbed by sharks" just to see if it would get more views.... a lot of sharks, but they were simply swimming around. I never felt threatened or nervous... just stoked to watch them.

I can't actually post the video here because it shows the brand logo of a previous sponsor, so just click the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSHZtKMRtD0&t=4s

[Hdip]

I've foiled over one in the South Bay. (we're talking Los Angeles locations here right?) I stayed out. That size shark isn't going to bother you. They're at Sunset jumping all the time on that one photographer's account. When they get bigger, well then I would be more nervous.

[toolate]

had a 4-5 footer bump me yesterday. a little too playful.