Monday August 2nd 2010 Duane Strosaker has a one on one intimate interaction with the local sea life just off shore of Graviota State Beach in California.



photos courtesy of Duane Strosaker

According to Duane it was just after 7:00 AM when he launched his kayak with plans to open water cross to three oil rigs in the area as part of an awareness campaign of the 23 rigs situated in the Southern California area.

It was a great weather day and Duane was making excellent time on his 24 nautical mile loop and had just finished visiting has last rig scheduled for the day just after 12:00pm.

With 7 nautical miles ahead of him and no shoe in sight he decided to turn up the power and start paddling hard for home.

He was paddling a hard chined stitch and glue plywood boat painted red with a Greenland style paddle.

Apparently without warning at 12:40pm just, 5 nautical miles from Graviota Beach Duane's boat attracted the attention of a 15-foot great white shark.

The shark's head popped up out of the water and it latched onto the left side of Duane's kayak with a toothy grin right about where his left foot would be situated in the boat.

For 10-15 seconds which probably felt like an eternity the shark just held on to the boat without thrashing or fighting.   

Duane remembers screaming like a girl the whole time his boat was in the sharks mouth and recalls seeing it's eye and thinking about hitting it with his paddle but had second thoughts to avoid angering the shark causing it to fight.

The shark then gently let go and slid back into the water without causing even so much as a ripple.

Cautiously looking over shoulder the entire way Duane continued on his path back to the beach.

As he paddled back to Gaviota State Beach water was leaking onto his legs in the cockpit area and had to stop about every mile to remove the water with a hand pump.

Duane at this point realized that he had not sustained any injuries, but I could see bite marks on the deck of his boat.

He was carrying a VHF marine radio but felt he could make it back to shore on his own.

Shortly before 2:00PM, he landed at Gaviota State Beach and immediately informed the lifeguard and a state park ranger took photos and a report.

Fortunately the great white shark had bit down on the kayak where the front bulkhead was located.

In addition to the leak in the cockpit area, there was a small leak in the front hatch area on the other side of the bulkhead.

For more on Duane's amazing story and more pics check out his website at www.rollordrown.com.

For more sea kayaking events check out the Adventure Kayak Events blogs and features.

We love blogging especially about sea kayaking.
If you would like your event listed on the Adventure Kayak events list and blog heres how to reach us adventurekayakmag.com/contact-us.html