Matt Mason was out with his wife on Saturday morning when a 14ft tiger shark bit his paddleboard.
The 48-year-old was 150 yards off the shore of Wailea Beach, Hawaii when he felt something ram into the back of his board. At first he believed it was just his wife playing a prank, but looking back he saw a tiger sharks head ‘attached’ to the paddleboard. The tiger shark twisted its body knocking Mr. Mason onto its back.
Mrs. Mason, who saw the shark swim under her board, just before it latched onto her husbands, yelled for him to punch the shark. Heeding her advice, he began hitting the shark in its midsection, all while the shark still griped his board in its teeth.
Mr. Mason sank in the water and when he surfaced, realized he was no longer connected to his paddleboard. He was able to grab his paddle and quickly swam back toward his board. He told The Pioneer Press “it was like having an aircraft carrier in front of me.”
Once he had made it back to his board, the couple safely paddled back to shore without seeing seeing the shark again. A group of beach goers witnessed the incident with one possibly recording part of the event on a mobile phone.
Natural Resource Officers measured the bite marks left on the board and determined the radius was consistent with a 14-foot shark. The only visible injury was to Mrs. Mason’s finger, from where she had gripped her paddle so tightly during the ordeal.
Mr. Mason was able to purchase the rental paddleboard and plans to hang it at his bar or use it in his hometown lakes.
The location has been marked on the 2016 shark attack bites tracking map.
In 2015 there were a total of eight shark attacks bites in Hawaii. One of which was fatal.
We think your website is much great to us. We hope that u keep up the good job.
Between 1959 and 2000, 4,668 tiger sharks were culled in Hawaii in an effort to protect the tourism industry. These efforts were shown to be ineffective in decreasing the number of interactions between humans and tiger sharks.
I would love to visit Hawaii and see all the tiger sharks, but not in this way :0) Love your web site!
That is some quick thinking on the wife’s part and extraordinary execution by the spouse! What a frightening circumstance for the couple to be in.