Shark Knocks California Angler From His Kayak by Gayne C. Young
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.
