The Magazine of The Sierra Club
Shark Attack
"Hitting the shark was the right thing to do."
It was a perfect fall morning just before Halloween on the peninsula shielding Northern California's Humboldt Bay. High-tide peaks were breaking up and down the beach, and the water was clean and clear. I caught four waves in quick succession, laughing at my good luck. Then it changed.
From behind me, something dark broke the surface. Luckily for me, the board took the brunt of the force.
Koren Shadmi
The shark dragged me under and shook me once. I hit it behind the eye, which felt like punching a bag of concrete, but it let me go.
Koren Shadmi
I paddled to shore, creating a crimson pool around me. I wondered how much blood I had left to lose.
Koren Shadmi
A surfer who was an off-duty paramedic lay on my wound to stop the bleeding, while another guy drove me to the hospital.
Koren Shadmi
Modern medicine saved my life. Four weeks to the day of the accident, I was back in the water surfing.
Koren Shadmi
ASK THE EXPERT
Salvador Jorgensen is a research scientist and white shark expert at California's& Monterey Bay Aquarium.
"When you enter the ocean in California, you are entering a wilderness where you could be mistaken for a seal by a white shark. Hitting the shark was the right thing to do. During our research trips, when white sharks get too frisky near the boat, a tap on the nose with a pole is enough to make them turn and back off."
