The following report of a Great White Shark attack was provided by the Shark Research Committee:
Dillon Beach — On December 20, 2008, Tony Johnson reported the following:
“Lucy, Anders, Cristina, Bill, Gordon, Jonathan and I were returning from a beautiful day of paddling. We were all gathered just south of Tamales Head in front of Dillon Beach. The group was deciding on surfing options when I asked Lucy if she wouldn’t mind if I went in. While going in I remember trying to make a conscious effort to use proper torso rotation and form while using my Greenland paddle. When half-way through my right stroke, a Great White Shark, with a girth larger than the width of my 22-inch kayak, hit my paddle from behind with such force that it slammed me forward to the front of my deck. Feeling the turbulence on my boat I sat up in shock at the speed, power, and size of this creature. I wish there were some way I could relate, or explain, how fast this creature was in water. I was facing the beach with my paddle out of the water, holding it in preparation for a second hit and saying to myself, ‘stay frosty.’ I was afraid to move and started yelling to my group that was behind me, ‘Great White’ – ‘Great White.’ I did this for several seconds before I decided to turn the boat around and head for the group. I stayed very still and slowly extended my paddle to turn towards the group. While turning the boat I looked to my right and there, 15–20 feet away, was the Great White, its dorsal fin out of the water. Its dorsal fin was large and shredded at the tip. The Great White was moving slowly, turning with my boat, this really caused me to panic and I paddled as fast as I could to the group yelling ‘Great White’ many times until someone heard me. We all gathered together and paddled in to Dillon Beach. While on the beach I examined the paddle and there were no bite marks, which I can’t explain.”
Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.
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Way to stay frosty, dude.
Wouldn’t it have been better to paddle in to shore rather than risk drawing the shark to a larger group?
Searchquant, two points here. The saying there’s safety in numbers may very well apply here. And second when something like this happens there’s not normally much (if any) time to think on what the best course of action is, you react. In my book they all went home safe so it was the right thing to do. And I agree, way to stay frosty !
Why would one yell “Great White” instead of “Shark”?
If I heard someone yell “Great White”, I’d probably think they were singing a song.
If I heard someone yell “Shark”, I’d get out of the water.
Maybe the shark wasn’t trying attack. He could have been admiring your proper torso rotation and form.
I think this story is just so much horse—-
that’s a big girth, thank goodness you stayed frosty
that’s what she said
Theres nothing worse that seeing the grey suits, kudos for staying frosty. I saw one 3 years ago and I melted like butter.
I find this story hard to believe. sounds like an REI sales pitch for this “super frosty greenland” paddle.
Mr. Matt,
I suggest professional guidance for your clear and obsessive homoerotic and possibly racist delusions. Key trigger phrases to discuss with your analyst include
-proper torso rotation while using my paddle
-with a girth larger than the width of my 22-inch
-half-way through my right stroke
-in shock at the speed, power, and size of this creature
-large and shredded at the tip
-from behind with such force that it slammed me forward
-I was afraid but started moaning to the group behind me, ‘Great White’ – ‘Great White.’
-I stayed very still and slowly extended my paddle and I paddled as fast as I could.
Your case is fairly common. Cost of the sessions shouldn’t be much more than that of a new lycra outfit from a high end retail outfitter. Best of luck.
Thank you Matt for your honest report. Many of us who spend time in the Norcal waters share a sense of awe and fear at the thought or sight of those massive predators, who have been on this earth much longer than our own purportedly ‘intelligent’ species.
Amazing too how your report has been cathartic in drawing out of the closet people confused about their sexuality.
Can someone please explain “frosty”? I don’t get it.
frosty is a snowman. sharks don’t eat snowmen.
Snowmen do not live on Endor. If snowmen do not live on Endor, than you must acquit.
It was a baby seal.
Stay Frosty like Dolomite in a whorehouse. Keep yo kewl, mah brotha. Keep yo, kewl.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Kill_(TV_series)
how could a baby seal hold a “super frosty greenland paddle” with those tiny flippers?
for the uninformed, Dillon beach is at the mouth of Tomales Bay which is a known great white breeding ground. I have surfed there many times but not without some wariness. I know someone who was scuba diving at the point and saw 2 great whites.
Your account is well written. However, it seems to me from your report that we should not lose respect and insight for the fact that we are the Visitors to the ocean, and sharks are some of the residents there. I surf Dillon Beach too and I love that nature is realtively unspoiled there. That means sharks can live there. (Imagine that!)
Have you ever considered that maybe it was not necessarily an “attack” on you, but you crossed paths erroneously, and that you may have disturbed him, or worse, that you may have actually aggravated the animal in the wild…
For the misinformed – no one has ever seen a White Shark breeding so whether or not Dillon beach is in fact a “breeding ground” is unknown. What is known is that they cruise the entire coast of northern and central California in great numbers, with a particular concentration in our little section of the coast here, hence the moniker “Red Triangle”.
Nevertheless, this story still sounds like an overdramatized load of crap.
The former Golden State Warrior and already awesome guy Gilbert Arenas said it best:
I know this is random, but I just want to clear this up for people out there.
There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.
I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.
We’re humans. We live on land.
Sharks live in water.
So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.
A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack.
When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”
We all know there are no waves at sharkpit
Sitting in front of a computer, it is easy to endlessly debate this, but I would guess that if you were out there, instead of sitting on your arse, and even saw a shark, you would crap yourself.
I agree, no waves at sharkpit
There is no debate here, people. You are either “attacked”, which in my mind means maimed or at least a little nibble or you are out surfing and come back in with all your extremities and some waves under your belt. This was no “attack”. It was some Marina living nine to five Starbuck’s latte drinking pussy who got spooked, I would also venture to say he probably works in marketing downtown.
First, well written recital of your unforgettable experience. But I agree with other, a bit overboard. But for all of you who take the semantics as making the story not true, you are most likely wrong. I have witnessed our old friend in the Grey suit at 20 meters distance from my surfboard at a secluded beach down a hidden pathway on the cliff in big sur. While I handled the situation differently, his recount of the situation brought back chilling memories and sounded rather plausible to me. but to the author and everyone else, this is not a shark attach. i wont go as far as the bozo saying shark attacks dont exist because we are trespassing into their waters, but I will say this was an encounter. no attack…trust me, youd know if u were attacked. keep surfin, paddlin and divin!
the story is not a load of crap, i was on dispatch that day a took down the report. He called from the dillon beach parking lot and reported to me exactly what he wrote in this story. Needless to say he was very shaken up.
I am interested in boogie boarding at Dillon Beach because I live nearby and love the ocean and the waves. I grew up on the ocean in SoCal. I keep researching for hours online to learn more about the risks of boogie boarding there. Does anyone know the risks of me getting in an encounter with or worse becoming a nice kfc morsel for spitting out later on this beach? To be honest, I am freaked out to go anywhere past shoulder deep, even though I am an experieiced boogie boarder capable of going out to the outside break. It really depresses me that there is this gorgeous beach staring at me, but it seems like the forbidden fruit that cant be picked beacuse of the Great White.
A classmate of mine was Ablone diving when a great white put it’s mouth over this guy’s body up to his waist.
This guy was at least 200 lbs, and played Football. The shark bit down, but didn’t. kill him. I will never forget
seeing his bruised and stitched up torso. For some reason the shark didn’t like the way he tasted. He gave up
diving for Ablone. True story.