Disclaimer: What occurred today most likely wouldn't have happened if not for my own curiosity. The shark I encountered today was simply minding it's own business when I paddled right up to it. I was attracted there by birds that were working the area - a patch of water some 3km out to sea. When I got there I spotted the shark well before it spotted me and I could tell - even from a distance - that it was a big one. I pedalled up from behind and I think giving it a bit of a surprise. When it did notice me, however, it went from being a lethargic mass near the surface to a very curious, if not agressive shark. I'm not an expert on shark species, but it looked very much like a great white to me. And it wasn't happy. I could have and should have left it alone, but I didn't. The Steve Irwin in me just couldn't help itself.
After having this experience, and then reliving it by watching the footage, I reckon it's an absolute miracle that my kayak rudder lived to tell the tale - the shark took a strong interest in that. Indeed, it took a very strong interest in me as well and in the following clip, you'll see that for yourself. What it didn't seem to take any notice of was the mirage fins, which is somewhat of a relief, because they are what I used to hightail it out of there.
Although I've always maintained that shark sightings are surprisingly rare and that the likilehood of being harassed by one even rarer again, one does increase their chances by paddling out to sea as often as I do. Especially when one actually goes out of their way to have the close encounter. I always knew this would happen one day and have prepared for it in my head a thousand times. It went down similarly to the way I imagined it would, although the agressive response of the shark did surprise me. Will I continue to fish off shore in the same waters? Yes. Will I ever approach a big shark like that again? Not without a Shark Shield, no.
Saturday was a very quiet day out at sea, which was fitting, as today was the day I was to take my mate Roger out kayak fishing. With such good conditions I figured he'd be OK at Woody Head, which is usually fairly easy going, as it was this day. I arranged for him to use the shop's (Maclean Outdoors) demo island to use, lending him one of my amas and tramps to use with it. We both took to the water outrigger style, both of us using tramps. Despite the extra stability and platform space offered by these, Rog wasn't terribly keen on going very far out. And he was straight up honest about it - he was pretty damned nervous about the possibility of seeing a shark. 'It'll be OK', I told him. 'There are sharks here, but the chances of seeing one are very slim. And the chances of being harassed even slimmer'.
But he ignored my suggestion that he should paddle out a little further, and hung in closer instead, which I thought fair enough (especially so when I neglected to give him a paddle). It was his first time out after all, so it was a good idea for him to stay where he felt comfortable. And just like I said would happen, we did see turtles, we did see dolphins, we did even see a few fish - a sting ray even... but no sharks. A big *phew* on that one for Rog, although we both left the water a little disappointed with our results. I'd caught a handful of cod, and Rog managed a sting ray. Not a fish worth keeping was taken, although I did get a couple of solid bites. Solid enough to inspire me to try again Sunday.
It was a completely different picture on Sunday. Nth west winds rolled in at around 10 - 15 knots and the water was pretty sloppy. Good thing I'm using my yak as an outrigger I told myself as I slid it into the water. I was determined to catch snapper today and to that end armed myself with 3 rods. I hadn't had any success at the point where I spotted birds working in the distance, some 500 metres away. Thinking that they may be onto something of interest, I pedalled forth to investigate. Sure enough they were indeed attracted to something of interest, as was a fairly large dark mass that I immediately knew was a fairly chunky shark. I spotted it from about 50 metres away - well before it spotted me - and continued to move closer to get a better look, and hopefully a photo.
As I got within 10 metres I guessed it's size to be about 3 metres, but didn't have a clue of it's species. When it noticed me approach it became even more curious than me, and instantly swung around towards the yak. It came directly towards me, right up to the side of the kayak. There and then I could see that it was both big and bold enough to jump right in and grab me, so I quickly jumped out on to the tramp. Then it went underneath the yak, and then spun around aggressively as I leapt back into the deck. It gave the ama a nudge and at that point my feet had already found position and were pedalling steadily. The shark went underneath again and then circled around behind the kayak where it took special interest in the rudder.
It followed the rudder for tense seconds that seemed like eternity at the time, at one point practically rubbing it's nose on it. Right when I thought it was lights out for my rudder it swung back around and then up along side me. This was when I managed to get a good look at its colour and shape, instantly calling it to be a white pointer. At 3 metres length, not a terribly big one... but big enough to be rather intimidating.
I did get footage of the event and I can imagine how it might be cause for alarm with some viewers. As mentioned in the disclaimer to begin with, it was my actions that made this happen. I could have avoided the situation but I chose not to. Considering how many hours I've spent out at sea on kayaks, I still believe that sightings like this are rare, and remain confident that when foolhardy mung beans don't do what I did here (I call myself 'Yakass' for a reason) that being harassed by one is going to be even rarer still.
I'll accept the notion that I did the wrong thing leading up to the encounter, but I do believe my actions were the right ones getting myself out of it. Pedalling towards it was probably pretty stupid, yes. But pedalling the hell away from it was precisely the right thing to do (I say that on the basis that I'm still here). I lost sight of it eventually and did start fishing again, setting myself on a drift that pushed me further away from where I saw it, and towards the landing destination. I didn't last terribly long, however, because it was pretty choppy out there and this created a lot of shadows. Eventually those shadows started to bug me, for obvious reasons. That the fishing was quiet didn't help. It was time to call it a day.
Trip Reports 
