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A TERRIFIED dad had a close call with a shark just minutes after getting into the water at a popular beach.
The surfer, who had only been in the ocean for about 10 minutes, was suddenly knocked from his board when the shark lunged at him.
The horror unfolded off Montara State Beach in San Mateo County, California, on Saturday afternoon.
Jens Heller, 42, said he initially thought he had hit a rock until he saw the shark’s eyes and teeth.
“I thought, ‘That’s it. I will not get away from this,'” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Heller, who was surfing about 100 yards offshore, said the beast also hit his leg during the attack.
The shark then bit into Heller’s board and threw him into the water, as his wife and six-month-old baby watched from the sand.
“I didn’t think of anything else,” Heller said.
He turned around and came face to face with the shark’s eyes, gums, and teeth.
The shark eventually let go of the board and swam away, allowing Heller to scramble back on.
Shaken but somehow unharmed, he paddled to shore on his damaged surfboard.
He later called it “my lucky day” after realizing he hadn’t been bitten.
The board, however, was clearly chewed up, prompting lifeguards to shut down the beach.
California State Parks said they cleared the water and posted a shark warning for 48 hours.
“At approximately 2 pm Saturday, State Park lifeguards and peace officers responded to a non-injury shark incident that occurred approximately 100 yards offshore,” officials said in a statement to ABC local affiliate WABC-TV.
“A surfboard sustained damage consistent with a shark bite,” the statement continued.
Great White Sharks – the facts
Here’s what you need to know…
- The great white shark is a species of the large mackerel shark
- They’re typically found in the costal surface waters of all major oceans
- Great whites are famous for their size
- Females are bigger than males, growing up to 6.1 metres, or 20 feet, in length
- At full maturity, a great white can weigh up to 1,905 kilograms, or 4,200 pounds
- A 2014 study revealed that the lifespan of a great white shark is estimated at 70 years or longer
- Great white sharks can swim at speeds of over 56km/h or 35mph
- And they can swim to depths of 1,200m, or 3,900 feet
- Experts believe that grea whites have no natural predators, other than the killer whale in very rare instances
- Great whites became part of the popular imagination after the 1974 novel Jaws, and the later Steven Spielberg film adaptation
- Humans aren’t the natural prey of great whites, but they’re responsible for the largest number of unprovoked shark attacks on humans
“Lifeguards immediately cleared the water and posted the beach with shark closure signage, effective for 48 hours from the time of the incident. The beach will reopen to the public at 2 pm today.”
DNA samples were collected from the board by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Heller believes it was a great white shark, the species behind almost all unprovoked attacks in California.
However, shark attacks in the state remain rare, with an average of fewer than two incidents per year, according to the California Academy of Sciences.
Only 99 unprovoked shark bites have ever been recorded in California history, the group stated.
“The danger of shark attack in California waters is minuscule; however, should one have that experience, it can be very serious and most unforgettable,” per the CAS website.
Over the past decade, California has averaged just 1.8 attacks per year, a figure far lower than the number of annual deaths caused by drownings, bee stings, or lightning strikes.
