A California surfer is thanking his lucky stars after a terrifying brush with a great white shark that smashed his surfboard in an area locals have dubbed the “shark pit” for its high concentration of apex predators.
The spine-chilling encounter went down Monday morning near the notorious Dillon Beach in Marin County — a known hotspot for great whites.
The unnamed thrill-seeker was catching waves in the frigid waters when the shark decided it wanted to be in on the action.
The shark really left a mark on his surfboard. thewestmarinfeed/Instagram
The beast came up without warning, ramming the the board with enough force to “chomp” or head butt the fiberglass shell of the surfboard and into the foam core.
Miraculously, the surfer managed to scramble back to shore without a scratch, leaving only his mangled board as a souvenir of the brush with death.
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The attack occurred in the heart of the “Red Triangle,” an infamous California coastal zone stretching from Bodega Bay above San Francisco to the Farallon Islands and down to Big Sur, where nearly half of all recorded great white attacks in the U.S. take place, according to the advocacy group Shark Stewards.
“This is a notoriously sharky area, home to some of the larger great whites perusing the Golden State,” reports SURFER.
The terrifying close call comes as the region is already on high alert. thewestmarinfeed/Instagram
The terrifying close call comes as the region is already on high alert. The day before, 55-year-old triathlete, Erica Fox, vanished during a weekly open-water swim in the Pacific Grove area.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a “large splash,” said KSBW. Fox remains missing, and the search for her was suspended on Monday night as hopes for a rescue faded.
The surfer was physically unscathed, but the shark sent a clear message: watch out bro.
