What would you do, shark sighting

same thing happened to my friends and me out on cape cod one time. thought we saw a seal waving at us (which is common), and then we realized it was not a seal flipper/paw, it was a shark fin. we pretty much did the same thing you did. paddled in, and then we watched Mr. Sharky swim down the beach. we told people around us in the water we saw one. so pretty much everyone paddled in. 20 minutes after no sightings we all went back out.

 

It depends on the size of the shark. Up here in ri the most dangerous shark would probably be a white. If i saw a white while surfing I'd get out of the water and warn everyone else to. Then I'd probably move spots.

 

Every damn time I have surfed BHI I see fins and shadows. Off the point of the east beach near the shoals and where the cape fear meets is bull shark central.

 

I think depending on if your can tell how big it is..... a small one.... ignore. a big one, paddle in.
if the beach is crowded, tell everyone around you about it and wait it out for about 20 min.
if you're alone and it was big, personally I would bail on the session/location. if its really good, hit up another spot where more people are.
Bottom line is, no matter how hard core you are, its just surfing and an elevated risk is not worth the lost limb or life.
but if small, I say just ignore it, maybe paddle away a bit.

 

It all depends if it was Submarine or the harbor master.

 

they are always out there, for every fin you see a hundred of them have already swam by you. Don't buy into the shark week hype, they are doing an especially good job fear mongering this year.

 

Strongly agree. I feel like a lot of sharks pass by people when there out. There just not interested.

 

Here's my only 3 encounters and what I've done each time.

In Florida, at Sebastian Inlet, I had two encounters. Each time it was a smaller reef shark, I was told black tip, or white tip...can't remember which. Anyway, neither was huge, both in the 4-6' range. They zoomed in close to the surface, turned and swam right outside the lineup. Both times, I got out and took a break until they were gone (seemed to be gone). Locals, including my friend from Vero, just pulled up their feet and stayed in the water. They seemed unphased, I presume because it'snot all that uncommon. Both times the surf was really fun.

In NJ in September in the Mantoloking area, a much bigger shark was cruising just outside the lineup parallel with the beach. Some people were driving down the beach just ahead of it in a pickup honking and warning so surfers could get out. We all got out. Not sure of the type of shark, people were saying Thresher or Hammerhead, but it's dorsal and tail fin were out, and the distance between them was enough to make it scary. When it, and the truck leading it were a few hundred yards down the beach, me and two friends paddled back out. Most others either didn't go back out, or waited much longer. It felt sketchy, but it was 2'-4' offshore with these perfect little barrels. To have it without the crowd for a little while seemed worth it at the time

One of my friends couldn't surf for some reason, and caught the shark on video (not very exciting) but he also got some sweet footage of us. here's some frame grabs I took of myself just after the shark when we had it to ourselves. I'm thinking I made the right call

 

Or even old hitler.

 

Yeah, there needs to be more details in the initial Poll question. Where are you surfing. What kind of shark? How Big? How close? I have identified sharks on numerous occasions, but they were all little leopards, black tips etc. nothing over 5-6ft.. Nothing major, so I would say I wouldn't get out of the water, just lift my feet in that situation.

Seen a BIG shark, tiger in HI right after I got out of the water. It kinds had me sketched the rest of the trip. I was glad I didn't see it in the water. It was easily 10feet, maybe 12. There was a grom contest in the Harbor, not evern 800 yards away. No one seemed to care. But had I seen that thing in the water with me, I would have been out immediately. I don't care if they all thought I was a gringo kook, I would be waving my arms and letting the world know. Call me what you want, but I don't care how common that is for them, I think if other people know, they should at least let you make your own call.

I have been in the water in CA, where there was a HUGE white shark patrolling right on the other side of a jetty, and the guards didn't say anything to me. I know, it wasn't right next to me, but it had been spotted all up and down Mission and PB that morning, so I would have liked to have been educated about it, not seen pictures of it all over the net 2 hours later. I know nobody wants to spark panic, but man, if you KNOW that a big fish is patrolling the shallows, I think it's the best call to at least put a sign up. All the "Shark Sighting" signs on sunset cliffs were fake and hung up by surfers that were trying to clear the lineups. Funny, but not real.

 

true dat, moonbeam tru dat!

 

99.9% of the time I just pull my hands and feet onto the board and wait a bit and then start surfing again when I've fooled myself into thinking he's gone (they're never gone). I have only gotten out of the water 2-3 times in my life due to a shark siting, every time I end up back in the water shortly after fooling myself again. Usually if I see something worthy of concern i'll quietly tell anybody who is nearby to just be aware, at least to clear my conscience in case anything were to happen to them and I knew there was one nearby, and to give them a chance to make their own decision. Most times people do as I do and just wait it out and continue on.

 

It has alot to do with conditions. If it is full of bait fish, and I see a shark feeding in the ball of bait, which is heading my way, I'm out in a flash. Usually we see lots of spinners (black tips) and the water is clear and the sun overhead and they jump a few yards away, and everone lays prone and puts their feet up. then a set comes and you go, and don't fall, and paddle right back out.

Sometimes a bull shark will pop up and the end of the jetty, and if there a a few of us and the water is clear, we will stay out, as long as he doesn't come too close. If it is dawn or dusk,and only one or two of us out surfing, then if a big one is spotted, it is time to catch one in and wait for a few. If it is good, paddle back out.

If alone, and it is baity and sketchy, and murky, I'm ready to get out before I see a shark.

If I see a shark of any size cruising down the the beach, I will calmly jog down the beach and try to alert the swimmers, especially kids. Most of the time people look at me like I have 3 heads, then they see the shadow and run out of the water. I try to be all calm, like "you might want to get out, I just saw a shark heading along the beach", that way they don't panic and splash and flail. One day I might get drunk and run down the beach yelling "Shark" real loud just to see everyone run, but I'm not that bored yet.

Just one guys perspective who sees sharks all the time, from 3 foot spinners to 12 foot tigers and everything in between. Oh.. if you hear the Jaws theme in your head, it is probably time to get out.

 

So when I was 14 I flew with my pops from Myrtle Beach to Ocean Isle NC. His buddy was a pilot and owned a small 6 man twin prop plane. We flew along the coast line for a portion of the way. I still remember seeing around 8-12 shadows from 4-8 ft long. These were all within 100 ft to 100 yards from the swimers and surfers each time I saw one.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of anything but a great white.well im probably bsing,never actually seen any kind of shark,praise allah,but iv been watchin shark week and I seen some great whites that would keep me out the water forever.i figure a regular shark,hammerhead,small tiger,blue shark,mako will take a bite out of ur leg,but a great white will split u in 2.i look at sharks like they are the dogs of the sea.best thing is to not get on their radar,but if they are hungry u really have no chance.

so if I seen a shark before I paddled out,depending on waves,i would go home

 

I voted that you should go home. Not what I would do; that's what YOU should do.