Shark Knocks California Angler From His Kayak by Gayne C. Young
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Harry Pali of San Francisco should take his kayak to dinner or at least buy it flowers because without it there’s a good chance he’d be dead today. Pali was fishing in 25 feet of water off Pigeon Point near San Francisco last Tuesday when he was thrown from his 12-foot kayak by the impact from a shark smashing into his boat. Pali told the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “The impact felt like being hit from a car.” Despite the force of the blow, Pali was able to climb back aboard the kayak and paddle to shore.
Once there, he and a witness who claimed to have seen
the shark’s tail
protruding from the water shortly after the attack,
measured an 18-inch bite in
the underside of the craft. The tremendous size
of the bite-mark and the manner
of the attack lead Pali and others to theorize a great white was responsible for
close
call.
Great whites, which are found in the
waters off San Francisco, are known to
ambush prey by striking them from
below.