HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KRON) – Two friends were kayak fishing off of California’s Half Moon Bay when they found one fish bigger than bargained for. Ian Walters and John-Patrick Thomas kept their cool on August 6 when the dorsal fin of a huge shark surfaced directly behind them.
The friends’ kayaks were 13 feet long, and the great white shark was even longer.
“It was a beautiful, calm, foggy day. I noticed a really big dorsal fin. Further down, I noticed a very big tail. We both just tried to keep each other calm. We watched it circle around,” Walters told NewsNation affiliate KRON.
The friends were nearly a mile away from shore.
Walters recorded the shark on camera as it followed behind Thomas’ kayak, swimming slowly across a glassy ocean surface. (His video can be viewed above).
“There he is. You alright?” the cameraman asks Thomas. “Yeah,” Thomas nonchalantly replies.
Video footage shows the shark appearing curious, not aggressive, toward the kayaks.
Walters uploaded the video on Instagram and wrote that he was “followed for a few minutes by a shark that really liked our kayaks. Shark enthusiasts, can you help ID? I know great whites aren’t the only sharks around but like … was it?”
Reflecting on his experience, Walters told KRON that he feels lucky. “It was pretty magical to be near one like that. The apex of the apex predators. It wasn’t aggressive at all. The experience was mostly surreal,” he said.
The shark eventually stopped following the kayaks after losing curiosity.
Great white sharks are apex ocean predators that hunt large marine mammals such as elephant seals, harbor seals and sea lions. They can grow to 20 feet in length and weigh more than 2,000 pounds. A population study released in 2021 found that about 300 great white sharks live along Central California’s coast.
Dr. Paul Kanive, president of the California White Shark Project, said the shark in the video appears to be a 14-foot-long adult white shark. “It’s got that classic triangle (fin) shape,” Kanive said.
Kanive said August is the time of year when great whites swim closer to California’s coastline from their annual migration out to open ocean.