A man fishing off the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Saturday is counting his blessings after a tiger shark attacked his kayak, according to video footage and a local report.
Scott Haraguchi had just pulled in a fish about a mile off the coast of the windward side of Oahu when a large tiger shark “slammed” into his kayak, KITV reported.
“I heard a whooshing sound that sounded like a boat heading towards me without the motor and I looked up and I saw this big brown thing my brain thought it was a turtle but then I got slammed by it and realized that it was a tiger shark,” Haraguchi told the outlet.
A heart-stopping moment was #caughtoncamera when a shark came out of the water and tried to take a chunk out of a #fisherman’s #kayak. This happened off the coast of #Hawaii.
Full video ▶️ https://t.co/v4rFTSizFl#sharkattack #tigershark #hawaiicoast #oahu #shark pic.twitter.com/SG8BOVh8mi
— Daily Blast LIVE (@dailyblastlive) May 15, 2023
Video of the harrowing encounter shows the large shark rapidly swimming towards the idle kayak before surfacing above the water and clamping down on the small craft with its teeth. Almost as quickly as it appeared, the shark then turned and swam back in the opposite direction. (RELATED: Terrifying Video Catches Sharks Swimming In Shallow Water Feet From Shore)
Haraguchi said he managed to kick the shark away from his kayak. He told the outlet he wasn’t sure what prompted the attack, but added that he spied a wounded seal nearby and wondered if maybe the shark had simply mistaken his kayak for the injured animal.
Later that same day, however, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) closed North Beach and posted signs after sightings of a 20-foot shark lurking in the waters. While it’s not clear if it was the same shark that attacked Haraguchi’s kayak, the fisherman told the outlet the encounter has inspired him to bring a partner along for future fishing trips.
“I realize that life is short, time is short on Earth, so make the most of it,” he told KITV.