FRIGHTENED - 2 November 2005 - Maverics, Half Moon Bay, California, US, - surfer attacked

Tim West was surfing Californian big wave spot Maverics with friend Chris Loeswick when he was knocked into the air by a shark which smashed into the underside of his board.

The attack occurred late Wednesday afternoon (2 November). They were the only two in the water. He was paddling his 10’ 1’’ board out to the take off zone when the shark hit.

“At first I thought it was a seal or some seaweed or a boil,” West told Surfing magazine. “Then I saw this gray thing just thrashing by my board. I swam away, to the end of my leash, and all of the sudden the thing disappeared and everything just stopped. It went dead calm. I reeled in my board and just paddled straight toward the reef. I didn’t even care about waves – just get me into the whitewater.”

Loeswick who saw the entire incident was sitting on his board about 100 metres closer to shore. He shouted to his friend and then saw him begin to paddle to shore. He also then started to paddle to shore, but West still shot past him he was so “pumped on adrenalin”.

From a tooth fragment embedded in the board a shark expert estimated the shark to be a 12-14 foot Great White.

West was uninjured but badly shaken.

Sources:
Surfing magazine
Santa Cruz Sentinel