California — While in the middle of a 20 mile downwind foil-boarding run from University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to Carpinteria, California a pair of friends inadvertently buzzed over a shark which sparked an all out open water chase by the apex marine predator. At first the man thought the turbulence in the water behind him was simply his leash dragging but a quick glance over his shoulder revealed the reality of the situation:
“I looked back again and saw a big girthy dark torpedo shape following me with trailing whitewater.”
The man knew the potential consequence of losing his balance and entering the water so he concentrated on staying on his board while keeping up his speed:
“I heard the water spraying off his dorsal fin and heard cavitation off his head, dorsal fin, and tail. I didn’t look back much because I was concentrating to stay on foil. I was hoping he would have his fun, get bored with me and leave. I was getting a little concerned because it was working hard to chase me, it was relentless, and chased for a long time. I heard it thrashing behind me throughout this whole video plus many minutes past the video.“
After the initial encounter the shark closely tailed the foil-boarders for about 3 minutes before finally giving up its chase:
“He turned left, it turned left. He sped up, it sped up. It was a full game of cat and mouse, but with a 10-11ft shark. After what felt like an eternity for Ron, it finally peeled away in search of something else to play with. We continued the run and made the next 10 miles without falling.” -Ron Takeda
Interestingly another southern California shark sighting forced the postponement of a surf competition last week when an aggressive 10-foot shark, likely a great white, was spotted in Huntington Beach. Organizers of the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro surfing contest decided to put the event on a 24 hour hold. The competition was resumed once the water safety team and local authorities confirmed the competition area is clear.
Ron Takeda Statement:
So about the shark; First off, thanks to Tavis for sticking with me the whole run. Whenever I came off foil he dropped off too and waited for me to get going again. We planned to do a 19 mile run and he stuck close to me. I was stoked because he was there to witness the shark too!
I was cruising behind Tavis and I thought I felt his foil wash and yelled out to him. That’s when he was yelling Top Gun quotes. But at that same time odd things were happening. I heard splashing white water and gurgling behind me. I looked back and saw whitewater trailing my board/foil. I thought I was dragging seaweed or my waist leash but there wasn’t any drag associated with it. I looked back again and saw a big girthy dark torpedo shape following me with trailing whitewater. I yelled to Tavis “hey is that a dolphin!” He yelled NO it’s a shark Don’t Fall!!
I was highly motivated to stay on foil and so concentrated to not make any mistakes. I had to make tight turns to stay on the bumps and the shark thrashed hard to match every turn and speed back to me. Most of the time it seemed like the shark was either two feet behind or actually underneath between by board tail and foil.
I heard the water spraying off his dorsal fin and heard cavitation off his head, dorsal fin, and tail. I didn’t look back much because I was concentrating to stay on foil. I was hoping he would have his fun, get bored with me and leave. I was getting a little concerned because it was working hard to chase me, it was relentless, and chased for a long time. I heard it thrashing behind me throughout this whole video plus many minutes past the video.
I was getting some good bumps and really moving and it stayed right on my tail. Long periods would go by and I’d think he left…but then I’d hear the water coming off its dorsal again or I’d hear a sucking sound which I think was his body cavitating in hard turns. Eventually it was silent and I didn’t see him again. Tavis caught back up to me and we had an awesome 12 miles left in our run. After the shark encounter I never came off foil for the remaining 12 mile.
So anyway, a memorable run for sure but I’m bummed that it happened. It’s not what we want to think about when we’re miles offshore.
