In Seaside, Oregon, off the northern Oregon coast, a surfer got taken for the ride of his life. Not on his surfboard, but on a great white shark. Doug Niblack was surfing at “The Cove,” a popular surfing spot in the Oregon beach town on Monday afternoon, October 10.
As Niblack was riding a wave, a 10 to 12 foot shark knocked him off his feet, and his board. Suddenly, he found himself standing on the shark, believed to be a great white. The surfer said it lifted him out of the water for several seconds, then took off.
Niblack commented, “It pulled my leg about three feet, hooked on my leash, then it was gone. And that was the scariest part, when I didn’t know where it was anymore.”
Though the frightening encounter was not caught on video, several nearby surfers were witnesses to the event, and coast guard member Jake Marks said that afterwards he and Niblack paddled back to shore faster than they ever had in their entire lives.
Marks also said he witnessed Niblack suddenly standing up with the waters churning around him, and saw a large shape swim off just beneath the surface.
Sharks are not often seen in the area, but they are there, although a brush between humans and the mammoth marine mammal is rare. Living right next to the beach in Seaside, I have never seen a shark here, and hope to never get that close.
Niblack must have had a guardian angel watching after him on Monday, as similar incidents have not had such a happy ending. In Australia, a 64-year-old man who regularly takes a dip in the waters off Perth’s Cottesloe Beach disappeared while swimming on Monday.
Police divers found the man’s torn swimming trunks found on a seabed near a buoy he was swimming toward. After an examination, they determined that he likely became the victim of a 10-foot great white shark.
In 2010, on the west coast of the United States, there were five shark attacks off the coast of California, and two off the coast of Oregon. One of those attacks was fatal, and all sharks were presumed to be great whites.
I’ve always been a little nervous of the Pacific Ocean, especially after the 1970s film “Jaws.” Now, I’ll be certain to think twice before sticking more than my toes in the water.