Expeditions

Sean Morely, Bryant Burkhardt and Pedro Frigola set off on September 10th from the coast of Gaviota just west of Santa Barbara to be the first to paddle all 8 of the Channel Islands in one trip.

Here’s a segment from the Kokatat Blog site with Sean talking about his encounter with a white shark during the trip.

I was listening to my iPod to relieve the boredom of yet another long crossing when suddenly I felt as much as heard a big splash behind me. I assumed it was just another dolphin or sea lion but when I glanced over my shoulder I saw not just a dorsal, but a tail fin as well and it was going from side to side. A shark! And a big one! It must have come right out of the water for me to have felt its splash, and now it was right behind me, bumping the stern of my kayak.

What should I do? My GPS told me I was 8.2 nautical miles from Catalina. There were no other vessels in sight. Great! I don’t mind admitting I was terrified. There must be something in a sea kayaker’s DNA that produces an overwhelming urge to paddle flat out when pursued by a shark. I resisted the urge to sprint, knowing that it would be futile and wanting to save my energy for a possible fight. The situation was quite bizarre. I distinctly remember Dire Straits’, “The Sultan of Swing” playing in my earphones as the shark chased me. Swimming right underneath me its dorsal fin was close enough for me to hit with my paddle. As I did so it flicked the underside of my kayak with its tail, forcing me to low brace. I kept paddling and the shark circled and came right at me head on. I lunged at it again with my paddle but missed. As far as I am aware the shark never tried to bite the kayak or me for that matter, but instead seemed intent on harassing me, like a cat with a mouse.

Again it was on my stern. I reverse paddled and the shark came by me, again flicking the boat with its tail as I hit its fin. I was using a wing paddle which is not great for low bracing but I was determined not to capsize. The shark circled around and gave me the opportunity to get a really good look at it because the water was crystal clear. It was about ten to twelve foot in length, certainly not as long as my kayak. But it was just as sleek and really fast. I am fairly certain it was a blue shark. It had a torpedo-like head and long slender tail and whilst I have only seen a small great white in an aquarium, this shark seemed more slender, more graceful. It was a beautiful fish, and had I been in a decent sized boat, the encounter would have been wonderful. In these circumstances however, I felt completely vulnerable, truly scared and more than a little bit stupid. Why should I be surprised to see a shark? This was their domain – I was the intruder. I had probably paddled past dozens without knowing it, but now I had met one that was hungry.

The encounter lasted for about five minutes. What was really scary was how persistent the shark was. It must have known that I was not part of its normal diet, yet it seemed intent on giving me a bad time. I had plenty of opportunity to take a picture of it as it cruised around me and chased my stern, but I had absolutely no desire to take my hands off my paddle. I had a knife in my pocket, but again was unwilling to let go of what I considered to be my best defense – a carbon wing paddle. I became exasperated. The thing just kept following me. What should I do? My VHF radio was in reach behind me but I felt a bit ridiculous shouting “Mayday” when the shark hadn’t actually bitten me.

In the end I summoned up the courage to take my hand off the paddle to reach into the pocket of my life jacket where I knew I had some energy bar wrappers. I threw these into the water in the hope of distracting the fish. Then I found a half eaten Power Bar that I had forgotten about. I threw that in as well. May be the shark went for it and realized that I didn’t taste good after all? Who knows, but finally after what seemed like a very long time, the shark disappeared.

I took a picture of myself once I was confident the shark had gone. My wife Gina says she has never seen me looking so angry. I was, largely at myself for having put myself in such a ridiculous and dangerous situation. I have two young kids who need their Daddy. Of course I spent the next eight miles constantly looking over my shoulder, but I never saw the shark again, and to be honest, I hope I never see another shark like that, especially on my own and so far from land.

Here’s a video from the trip.

To read the more of Sean’s report of the trip visit www.blog.kokatat.com