Florida kayaker has close encounter with enormous shark (rare shark sighting)

Florida kayaker has close encounter with enormous shark

Presumably, the kayaker in the video was aware that the massive creature swimming toward him was a harmless basking shark, but the situation must have been unsettling nonetheless. The extremely rare encounter with the planet's second-largest shark -- only the whale shark is larger -- occurred off Panama City, Fla. Sightseers and fishermen also witnessed the spectacle. For the sake of perspective, the kayak is 14 feet long. Basking sharks, which can measure 40 feet, feed on plankton and are found in temperate and Arctic waters. Sightings off Florida are very unusual.

As the article states this is a harmless basking shark. The funny part though, is how the article presumes the kayaker knew this was a harmless shark, because his reaction and how fast he tucked his extremities into that kayak would suggest otherwise lol. Great video, that thing is huge. I am a native Floridian and I am pretty sure my fight or flight mechanism would have been a factor for at least a split second had I been the one in the kayak.

Yea damn i just saw this... I cant even begin to imagine how i wouldve felt if i were that guy.
Kayakers get shadowed by predators a lot more than ppl know.
I remember reading about one, i think in Cali or maybe Australia, that was shadowed by a huge Great White but it never attacked the boat.
I live on the coast but i havent been in the surf since i was about 8 and saw jaws

btw, i know a basking is harmless but it is unusual to have one in such shallow waters. they are usually further out in deeper water.

reply to post by TriForce


Most likely a female.

reply to post by AdamsMurmur


ooooo ...I am sure you will get some very heartfelt replies to that response Unless you were actually talking about the shark, which if it gets too deep for you can be your fallback lol.

reply to post by UberL33t


You can smell the kayaker's doo doo from just watching...just frantically spazzin around in the kayak...who can blame him though lol

That would have been an AMAZING experience!! Still would have sh!T a brick though

A customer of mine, goes out in the ocean with his kayak and a team of other kayaks, to fish for sharks. They real them in close enough to tag them and then release. It's one bad a$$ gig.

reply to post by TheRealTruth84


Now that sounds like an adrenaline rush of a job to have. I wish him the best, hopefully he stays your customer for awhile lol.

reply to post by UberL33t


Yeah I was talking about the shark. lol I'm not a pig. Lots of marine life go for shallow waters to lay eggs and what not.

This is a harmless shark.

People on the eastcoast of England have another of those, it's just another type of shark

JAWS is stalking the coast of Norfolk, experts fear - after a porpoise was found mutilated by a giant shark.

www.thesun.co.uk...

Originally posted by Mianeye
This is a harmless shark.

Yeah, not so harmless if it sneaked up on you with that giant mouth. Could easily swallow a human.

Well I can tell you of my experience. Hubby and I were fishing with some friends off the east coast of florida two years ago. Our friend caught a small shark, we brought it in unhooked it and put back in the water. It was alittle stunned so it stayed on top. The little shark (3 feet long) was about 20 yards from our boat when up from the deep comes this huge (and I mean huge) shark and grabbed the little shark and started to swim away. I started crying and was shaking so bad. It was a very scary situation. After the shark got pretty far from our boat, the captain told us it was a great white which they see around that area during the time of year. He said he had never had that happen to him.
So I know if I was in that little Kayak, Im sure I would have been headed for the hospital with severe chest pains, not to mention messing all over myself.

My husband just told me it was much closer that 20 yards. He says about 10 feet away!

I would have probably passed out in my kayak!

That thing is huge! I have seen sharks off the coast here, also a Floridian on the east coast however.

I had a friend telling me about this recently and I will have to post it on her FB, she thought it was a great white but also didn't know where this happened. She will get a kick out of the video.

Thanks for sharing