‘Don’t fall!’: foil boarders describe hair-raising shark chase caught on video off California coast | California
Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise were a few miles off the coast of Santa Barbara when they noticed the large mass coming from behind them.
“Tavis, is that a dolphin?” Takeda asked as he stood on his foil board, a special form of surfing, and waded through the waves. Boise, who filmed his runs, realized this problem was an ominous sign; Experienced surfers were so familiar with dolphins that Takeda must have recognized them immediately.
They immediately realized that it was a huge shark chasing Takeda. The creature followed closely, its fin rising above the water as it moved at about 10 miles per hour.
Boise was captured images experience that has since gone viral. In the video, the animal can be seen chasing Takeda for about a minute. Boise’s “Don’t fall!” He can be heard shouting. When his path diverged from Takeda’s: “Oh my God, he’s coming to you!”
The shark followed the retired mechanical engineer for about five minutes before finally giving up.
The day started with words. Takeda, Boise and a friend had waited for the wind to pick up before setting out on a 20-mile run near the University of California at Santa Barbara on Saturday.
As he waded through the water, Takeda heard a sound behind him and quickly looked back. He saw a huge body, 13 ft tall, and was standing over it, following his every move.
“Oh my God, it’s still stalking. It’s still happening. It’s mind-boggling,” Boise said. “That’s when we both start to panic.”
They had both encountered sharks before, but never in a chase for this long.
He said Takeda focused on staying upright and keeping the board above the surface, choosing not to become fixated on the shark’s presence. There were moments when he thought the animal was gone until he saw it behind him again, but eventually it disappeared.
Meanwhile, Boise knew Takeda could survive more easily and decided to stay put. He caught up with her a few kilometers later.
Takeda’s first words to Boise after the encounter were to appreciate the magnificent conditions on the water.
“The first thing he said was, ‘It’s really nice here,’” Boise recalls.
They shared the video with friends and experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who agreed with their assessment that the creature was a shark, possibly a great white. The footage was shared on social media by a friend and quickly garnered more than a million views, prompting several questions as to whether this was artificial intelligence.
Takeda and Boise suggest that the foil on the board, which looked like a stingray when viewed from below, may have hit the shark, starting a cat-and-mouse game. “Put yourself in the shark’s mind. Your prey tapped you on the shoulder and ran past you,” Boise said.
They were stunned by the experience, but not discouraged. Boise titled his video “Friendly Shark Pursuit” in hopes of not contributing to the demonization of the creature.
“It’s clear that the shark chased us for a long time. I’m really sure it was just out of curiosity. It didn’t touch us at all,” Takeda said.
They planned to return to the water on Thursday.
“Even if it happens again, we’re pretty confident we know what to do next time, which is not to fall,” Boise said. he said.
