I've told this story to non-surfers and usually they don't get it. So it goes like this. Was surfing at the Folly Beach pier with 3 to 4 foot waves in super muddy water. I know that it's all sand under me because I've been there so many times. About half a dozen other surfers with me, I ride a smaller board than most 5'3" so I sit on the inside and off to the side of the pack, nobody looking behind me. So there I was sitting on top of my board in 5 to 6 feet of water and suddenly it was like the bottom of the ocean rose up from under me, like I could stand up in super shallow water but I know for a fact that it was to deep for that. Just then the set waves rolled in and the hole pack including myself started to move. I was kind of of shocked and in disbelieve at the time so I continued surfing and didn't say anything.
This happened to me. Just doing to paddling on my lb to get in shape for an upcoming trip, the water was crystal clear. Had my head down and felt the water kind of lift me from under. Lifted my head and directly under me was a giant Manta Ray. Scared the crap out of me for a split sec, but cool experience. Paddled with him for a few mins until he turned out to see and I went on my way.
remembered this story from when my grandparents used to rent a place in new Smyrna http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...0_1_anchor-line-fishing-line-coast-guard-crew
this tread is about shark encounters. how about this. was free diving off the outer reefs of Florida Keys, and noticed that the tarpon were swimming. usually they stay still. it was then that i found it was that fish can't see behind themselves. i swam up behind one and grabbed it by the tail. bad idea. anyhow the coral reef fingers go from shallow to deep and back. was crossing over one of the shallows approaching a drop-off when i noticed something moving. the exact same time that i crossed over the ledge i realized that what i saw moving was a dorsal fin. happened so fast a 15' Great Hammerhead it swept up and charged at me. i swear that i was looking at an open mouth and all that i could do was hold my hands out in defense. at a vary close contact it turned away. i swam back to my boat asap thinking i'm notatarpon..
Dude I'm pretty sure Mary Lee ain't around anymore... the tracking device ran out of batteries... If your concerned - have you considered relocating to Belmar NJ? Not only do they have the best waves, but they also have shark nets...
Made eye contact with a full grown healthy looking bull shark at Assateague in June during a hurricane swell. I saw it twice before it breached and looked at me. I was really hoping it was a sand shark but it wasn't. the waves were 10-foot and perfect. Atlantic bull sharks have a very small dorsal fin for how big they are. What looks like a 3ft shark could be 9ft, very deceiving. Looking back on my last 20 years of surfing Assateague and realized that place is sharky sharky, sharky during spring mating season. All those times I thought I saw a small grey shark was probably a bullshark. So I count 1 close incounter, 1 full bump knocked me off my board and 3 sightings. All at Assateague in the late spring My mom tried to wave me in because there was a shark bumping down the beach and I just gave her the thumbs up like radical bro. And just like always when you see a shark the waves go flat and you got to paddle all the way in. I was the only person surfing that particular spot however down the beach there were dozens of people. I did not wave anybody in because I knew that that shark was not hunting. Was that wrong of me? I didn't want to ruin the session. I could tell the shark was just playing because it saw me catch a couple waves, they were breaking very very deep. I'm almost positive I saw the shark riding the waves. So I had a pretty good surf session with a bull shark One Summer at Assateague
Yeah bullsharks have small dorsal fins, hammerheads have big crescents. I went to pet a manatee once, while swimming laps between the ropes just north of the inlet, it swam away. When I came back to shore the guard said he thought I was done, I said "huh?, it was a manatee", he said "manatees don't have fins on their backs, dumbass"! Must of been a pretty good sized bull shark. Lucky I have the mermaids on my side.
You don't know it was a shark, it could have been Frost doing sand reconne for all you know. Calm down.
Once I met a girl, Jen, she had a twin sister, I forget her name, they reminded me of Flotsam and Jetsam, the two moray eels in The Little Mermaid. Sharks are cool, these two are way more dangerous.
My scariest encounter was on a rainy ocnj summer dp about two-three years back. Fun waist high little nug session. My buddy and I were sharing waves with one other guy who was acting really spooked. He ended up saying there was a shark nearby and that he got bumped. We gaffed him off and did our thing. Low and behold no more than an hour later a 6-8” dorsal fin breaches the top of a wave about 15 yards in front of us. We shot to shore like bats out of hell. It was my first shark encounter and I wanted to live to tell it. No clue what kind it was, but we went back in after a half hour and did our thing. The other one I saw was a 5’ thresher breaching in South MoCo two falls ago. One of the coolest things ever. I didn’t get out though, was stoked it wasn’t a man eater type.
6 ft bull shark while snorkeling at Pennekamp off Key Largo. 5 ft barracuda while snorkeling off Destin, FL. I was relaxing, just lying on an air mattress right off the beach on Sanibel Island when I felt the water suddenly rise and lower. Startled me a little. A passing dolphin had swam right under me.
i had the same thing happen. huge manta ray. like 8 ft across. swim underneath me and pass me by. they can move really fast. that's what surprised me most.
saw a 6 foot shark swim just beside me one day at sebastian inlet. water was so clear. don't know what kind it was.
surfing with SI member your pier this past summer and saw a manatee in wrightsville. he thought i was crazy. i swear to god i saw it tho.
I had a manatee breach next to me one morning when I was surfing alone. I shite my wetsuite but then realized it was just a sea cow.
Back in the 80s I had an encounter with the most dangerous shark of em all... The Loan Shark. 6 foot 4 inch Louie Anastascio. I owed him 150 bucks, which was a lot of money in the 80s. This type of shark doesn't bite, they break legs, cut off fingers, and bash you over the head with a Louisville Slugger. I fended off his attack by promptly paying him back. I had to boost a car stereo and steal some hubcaps to get the money. Bull sharks aint got nuthin on ole Louie.
