They say life is all about balance. That might be truest when it comes to shark news and footage, for a surfer’s peace of mind anyway.
We’ve seen an abundance of drone footage lately, offering the world a look into the (mostly) peaceful coexistence of sharks and surfers. It’s beautiful and fascinating, but still a little freaky. And last week, shark encounters of the other kind made the news, with reported attacks in Kauai and California.
So today, we’re starting the week with a new clip of a great white shark and stand-up paddler peaceful encounter.
The shark clip above was shot by ocean photographer and shark advocate Scott Fairchild. He captioned the post:
“Juvenile Great White came over to explore this paddler on a murky day. As usual, when head-on, it broke off to get away.
“But as always, it came back for another look. Clearly more comfortable the second time, although oddly from head-on again. Which the paddler did not like and left the area.”
In the video, the shark swims towards the stand-up paddler and swims away when it’s just about nose to nose. In the second clip it’s back again before they go their seperatge ways.
One viewer asked Fairchild:
“Why don’t they like head-on contact? Social anxiety? Likes the booty?”
He replied: “For their own safety and to surprise its prey”
Another viewer entered the convo, sharing his own theory:
“For the same reason you won’t ever see a jaguar in the jungle: These ambush predators want to control the interaction by staying out of potential prey’s or threat’s sight. Tigers too will almost never attack prey animals front on – being seen is a disadvantage and increases risk of injury, and even a small injury could stunt their ability to hunt on.”
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