Beau Browning was surfing around 150 feet from the shore of Manresa State Beach California, when he was knocked off his board by a great white shark. Mr. Browning believes the shark was around 15 feet long, so big that, when it hit his board, it threw him 10 to 15 feet in the air.
He told a reporter at KSBW, “I caught my second wave, and barely got into it and, out of nowhere, I was popped into the air by probably like 10 to 15 feet, and I looked down and saw a shark. He took a bite on the way down.”
As he started to fall, he saw the shark land on top of his board cracking it. The shark then bit the board and pulled the surfer, who was still attached to the leash underwater for about 5 seconds. *
He has no ill will toward the shark adding, “They were just doing what they’re designed to do and they thought I was something else. And that’s all it is. I got no hard feelings against sharks.”
This would be the seventh shark incident in Santa Cruz County in the past 88 years, of which none were fatal.
The incident took place around 6:45 p.m. Saturday, September 13.
*Editor’s Note: I am no expert and have no reason to doubt the story, but I am unsure how the shark hit launched him so far. He could have miscalculated; however, he was up high enough to see the size of the shark. Mr. Browning is a large man, and although a shark that size possesses enough strength to throw him in the air, it seems the encounter would leave significant damage to the board.
Marked as interaction on the 2014 shark bites attack map.
What do you think? Does it make sense to you? Let us know in the comments.
******Update 8/18/14******
More info has surfaced pointing to a possible false report. The surfboard was advertised for sale on Craigslist and then deleted. Park Rangers are in touch with Mr. Browning and will be checking out his board. NBC Bay Area reports Mr. Browning said it was possible he was hit by a whales tail. Apparently he also altered his story from Sunday to Monday with the TV station saying his friends saw the incident happen, then later saying they were to far away.
Comments are closed.