Ilan Toussieh spotted what looked like a “huge grey submarine” under his kayak, and it soon registered that he was in the company of a “freakin’ massive” great white shark. (Watch the videos below.)
As he noticed the predator circling him, he tried to keep his cool.
“The shark was about as long as my kayak and nearly just as wide,” he told HuffPost on Thursday after footage of his encounter went viral. “Realizing it could easily flip my kayak had it wanted to, I felt intimidated as I thought my life was potentially in jeopardy.”
Toussieh stayed focused enough to capture stunning clips of the great white from many angles, including underwater, for his “Fisherman’s Chronicles” YouTube channel. He shared the videos last week, but his heart-pounding adventure on California’s central coast happened in late July.
“As it calmly circled me I realized there was not much I could do about it and just relaxed and enjoyed the ride,” he said. “Trying to escape would likely lead to the shark becoming more curious and possibly identifying me as a prey item, so I stayed put and did my best to record the predator on my GoPro cameras.”
The shark eventually departed, leaving the fisherman in awe.
“This turned out to be one of the most spectacular experiences of my life, and I believe I captured one of the best kayaker/great white interactions ever,” he said.