Surfer Battled off Hungry Shark While Infant Child Watched
A California surfer had a terrifying close call with a hungry shark, the San Francisco Chronicle and KNTV reported.
Jens Heller was catching a few waves at Montara State Beach on May 31 when suddenly, at around 2 p.m. local time, he felt an unexpected guest beneath his board. “I was sitting on the board, actually, and then I felt something under my foot kick me off the board. I looked back and then saw this big mouth just grabbing onto my board, and then it bit [the board],” Heller explained in a video taken shortly after the botched attack.
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“I mean it kicked me completely off the board and I just remember being in the water looking back, seeing this black eye and the teeth of the shark and then I just tried to grab my board as fast as possible and then come back in,” Heller continued, adding that two nearby surfers who came to help him saw the shark and estimated it to be about 10 feet long.
“It felt like I couldn’t paddle fast enough," Heller said. "It felt like I’m in slow motion while I was trying to get away. I was like, man, this shark will be so much faster than me. If he really wants to get me, he’ll get there."
The incident occurred about 100 yards from the shore and was witnessed by Heller’s wife and their six-month-old daughter. California State Parks (CSP) officials analyzed Heller’s board and confirmed that the bite marks were consistent with a shark. “Lifeguards immediately cleared the water and posted the beach with shark closure signage, effective for 48 hours from the time of the incident,” CSP said in a statement. “California State Parks would like to remind visitors that sharks are an important part of the coastal ecosystem and that interactions between humans and sharks are rare.”
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“I can’t believe that it didn’t get me at all, actually,” Heller extolled in his video. “What are the odds, right?”
Montara State Beach remained closed throughout the weekend, but was reopened on Monday afternoon.
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