While fishing in shallow waters off the shore of Kualoa, Hawaii, a fisherman encountered a shark up close while on his kayak.
“It was incredibly bad luck but incredibly good luck to capture it,” said Scott Haraguchi, who caught the close encounter on camera, according to WMTW.
The GoPro was still recording after Haraguchi just caught a fish when he heard a whooshing sound that resembled a boat headed toward him without a motor. In the distance, he saw something big and brown that looked like a turtle, but when it slammed into his kayak, he realized it was a tiger shark.
In spite of the shark’s attack, Haraguchi continue fishing. As soon as he watched the video, he realized how fortunate he was not to be injured in the attack.
READ MORE: Brutal details emerge of deadly shark attack; first known shark death of 2023
Earlier this year, the first shark attack of 2023 left a diver decapitated in Mexico. Manuel Lopez, 53, was diving for mollusks in Tobari Bay off the coast of Mexico on Jan. 5 when he was killed by a 19-foot great white shark.
Sharks can sense the chaotic movement of potential wounded prey in the water with an organ that runs along the length of a shark known as a lateral line. It’s possible that Lopez’ effort to pry mollusks from the ocean floor could generate the kind of underwater noice and turbulence that would lead sharks to believe there are wounded prey in the area.
The fact that shark attacks are rare does not diminish the importance of taking precautionary measures to prevent them.
