10-Foot Shark Bites Surfboard, Knocks Surfer Into Water

One man is counting his lucky stars after an encounter with a shark. Jens Heller was surfing at California’s Montara State Beach when the scary situation unfolded.

Heller was surfing at the beach while his wife and 6-month-old daughter played in the sand, the 42-year-old Albany man told The San Francisco Chronicle.

Heller was about 10 minutes into his surf session and approximately 100 yards off the the beach as he awaited his first wave of the day.

It was then that he felt his foot and board hit something, which he first believed to be a rock. The impact caused Heller to fall off his board. It was then that he looked back and saw the shark’s eyes, teeth, and gums.

Heller additionally told SFGATE that he witnessed the shark’s head clamped onto his board and its eye staring at him. 

Heller was told by other surfers in the animal that the animal was 10 feet long, and guessed that it was likely a white shark, he told the first outlet. 

The shark gnawed the side of his board where his thigh had been moments before.

“I kind of panicked, obviously,” he told The Chronicle. “I thought, ‘That’s it; I will not get away from this.’” 

Speaking to SFGATE, Heller added, “I shoved the board towards the shark and tried to kick to get away, but then it let go of the board pretty quickly and just swam away. That’s when I grabbed my board as fast as I could and turned to shore and just paddled back out of there.”

He didn’t initially believe he was uninjured, as he assumed that the adrenaline was masking the pain. However, Heller soon discovered he’d escaped without a scratch, per The Chronicle.

“It was my lucky day, I guess,” he said.

Shark Encounter Closes Beach

Following the attack, the beach was closed for two days, the outlet reported. Heller notified the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who took DNA from his surfboard and are analyzing the bit mark.

“You see on the top of the board, you see the bite marks of the upper jaw larger than my hand, for sure,” Heller told SFGATE. “Then on the bottom a little piece of board that it took out. And then also on the rail, there’s like a hole now, basically the bite mark of the upper and below jaw.”

Heller told the outlet that the encounter hasn’t ruined surfing for him. He said that he plans to get back in the water soon.

“I will go out in the water again,” he said. “I probably will not go to this beach in the near future.”