Shark circles paddle boarders in the middle of the ocean in terrifying footage
Ben Thompson
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@crossingforcf
This footage shows the terrifying encounter that two paddle boarders had with a shark as it started circling their boards.
The video, filmed on Friday (30 June) between the Bahamas and Lake Worth, Florida, shows a woman on a paddle board on the water.
And behind her, a shark can be seen in pursuit as a fin rises above the water.
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Somehow, the woman, Malea Tribble manages to remain as cool as a cucumber as her husband, Ricky, encourages her.
Malea quickly makes it back onto the boat whilst another paddle boarder, Gabe, is out in the water.
The people on the boat begin shouting for him to stay where he is as the shark passes by.
As they wait, they begin speculating that it's a hammerhead shark.
Fortunately for Gabe, the shark soon loses interest and disappears beneath the surface of the water.
Malea told Fox 35 that she 'initially felt a few taps' on her board but dismissed it as 'seaweed on my fin'.
"I was about 30 ft behind the boat when my husband spotted the shark fin." she continued.
The clip was filmed by Travis Suit, who was on board the boat.
Travis, who is the founder and Executive Director of The Crossing For CF event, said: "We are grateful Malea was not harmed and so proud of the calm and disciplined response the Tribbles had during the situation as paddle mentors in this event, providing a great example of how to handle close encounters like this.
"We are visitors when we are in the ocean, it’s really their home, so it’s to be expected."
Malea said: "Based on his reaction, I knew immediately that it was a shark. I didn’t know how big or where exactly it was."
"I was surprised that it was bigger and much closer than I initially thought.
"At one point in the video, he’s completely under my board. I also noticed how quick and sleek the movements were. The shark was seemingly just curious what I was in his house."
According to the International Shark Attack File, there have been 16 recorded incidents between humans and hammerhead sharks since 1900.
However, zero of these encounters have resulted in death.
In recent news, a warning was recently issued after a shark pulled a man into the Florida Everglades.
The fisherman, identified as Nick, was attacked by the shark, which grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the water off his boat.
According to a post on Instagram, Michael Russo, who was on the boat at the time, has said that following the incident they rushed Nick back to land, where park rangers helped him get airlifted to the hospital.