Half a mile off Gaviota State beach near Santa Barbara, California, a kayak fisherman captured a real life scene from Jaws with his GoPro camera.
The kayaker, Mark McCracken, was forced to fight off a “super aggressive” hammerhead shark with only his paddle as it repeatedly made attempts to ram the kayak. McCracken filmed the 15 minute encounter with his GoPro, which occured while he was fishing for bonito.
“It hit the back of my kayak twice and I turned around to see it,” McCracken told NBC News. “I couldn’t tell if he was biting [the kayak] or if he was head-butting it, but soon as I saw it I just started going at him with the paddle.”
The shark was so aggressive, it continued to swim back and forth in the shallows, attempting to stalk his prey even after McCracken made it to shore. Lucky for our fellow kayaker fisherman, the shark looked to be a small one.