California kayakers' great white shark encounter caught on camera
"Everyone grows up thinking the great white sharks are this mindless killing machine, but they play this really important role and generally they don't have any interest in killing anyone," 6th grade science teacher Ian Walters said.
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Off the coast of Half Moon Bay, California, a pair of kayakers experienced a close encounter with a shark on Aug. 6. The shark appeared to have approached the kayakers out of curiosity.
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A pair of California kayakers were followed for several minutes by what appeared to be a 13-to-14-foot great white shark -- and the encounter was caught on camera.
Ian Walters, a sixth grade science teacher from Oakland, said he and a friend were fishing from their kayaks in Half Moon Bay when he noticed the large fin sticking out of the water behind the other man's kayak.
"We watched it kind of go back around and start following me," Walters told KABC-TV. "And we just tried to keep each other calm and not give any reason for a reaction from the shark, and just led it toward some seals and eventually it let us go."
Walters said the shark did not show any apparent signs of aggression.
"It's disconcerting because it's a new experience for me, not so much that the shark was doing anything scary," Walters told KTVU-TV.
He said the shark lost interest in the kayaks when its attention was grabbed by some nearby seals.
"Everyone grows up thinking the great white sharks are this mindless killing machine, but they play this really important role and generally they don't have any interest in killing anyone," Walters said.
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