Dorsal fin

[whatcomridaz]

So how long do you wait after seeing a dreaded dorsal fin pop out of the water? Today during a dawn patrol, 70 feet away from us a big ass dorsal popped out of the water for a split second. At first I thought I just imagined it or that it was a dolphin, however my bro turned to me white as a ghost and asked if I saw it. Yep, it was friggin huge, Definetly not a dolphin, I see dolphins all the time. Of course we paddled in and sat on the beach and waited. Never saw it again.

So how long do you wait before going out in the water? I waited 10 minutes with no other sightings but I'm not confident that was enough.

[bio-smear]

Wasn't there a Great White attack down the coast from you a while back at Seaside, OR? Maybe Cannon Beach? Scary shit.

[MidwayJ]

For me, it depends on how the shark, or other marine life, is acting. I've never seen a white pointer up close, but I have had interactions with some large tiger sharks. My local spot is predator heaven: abundant bait inshore, tuna schools less than 1/2 mile out, great dropoffs, lots of current, even the occasional monk seal. For this reason, the tigers like to breed in the area during summer, which is when we usually see them.

First things first. If you EVER see a big shark with its pectoral fins pointed down: GET THE FUCK OUT. If you don't, you're gonna have a bad time, mmmmk? If the shark is cruising really close, i.e. in the lineup, then it's probably time to leave. If you feel really uncomfortable, get out. You may not think you're acting scared, but you probably are, and big predators can and will detect this.

In your case, the shark was pretty far out- 70 yds, and obviously not trying to conceal its presence (from you anyway) hence the dorsal fin. This is where it gets borderline. If there are other people in the water, it helps to calm you down and you can assess the situation collectively (unless people are screaming and scrambling towards shore):

1) Is the shark moving parallel to shore, heading out, or heading in? If it's the latter, I'm outta there.

2) Is the shark feeding? If so, on what? I once surfed a two hour session within sight of a big tiger. She was corralling a school of smaller baitfish, and was pretty keyed up on them. The only time she bothered us was when the school got pretty close, then she veered off towards the peak and we all got the fuck out of the water for a few minutes until the action moved back down the beach. My point is, a human on the surface doesn't look like a little fleeing mackeral. On the other hand, if the shark is feeding on carrion (dead birds, etc.) or there are a lot of turtles in the area- get out. Big fish have what's called a "search image"- they key up on a certain prey. This is especially true of sharks, who have lesser eyesight than many other marine predators.

3) How are the little guys acting? If a bunch of birds jump up off the water, or you see bait busting, or worse yet, seals or turtles acting skittish- get out.

Be careful, but remember: If a big shark wants you, then it's pretty much already over. Sharks don't usually go after humans, but when they do, it's not very hard to sneak up on the slowest, most unaware animal in the ocean (except for the manatee). My brother had a friend who was paddling back out to a well known left that breaks alongside a harbor entrance (Kewalo's). The water drops off from 2 feet deep on the reef to 40 feet in the harbor channel. He had a 12-14 ft. tiger go VERTICAL and bust on him full force. He was VERY lucky, as the tigey got only his feet and the tail of his board. Another friend got "bumped" (knocked the fuck off his board) while surfing adjacent to an offshore island. He saw a big tiger in the water with him and scrambled to the island, but still had to wait and paddle 1/2 mile in. I'm sure he waited longer than 10 minutes

[mountainbored]

I think it would take at least 10 minutes to wash the crap out of my wetsuit!
Never seen a fin, but often surf sharky water (Humboldt down to Morro Bay).
The scariest was seeing a bunch of elephant seals haul their ass out of the water real quick near Piedras Blanca light house. Pulled feet up, layed on the board and looked around nervous but kept surfing; some of my friends won't surf some of the breaks I like. Go figure?

[hop]

where were you? westport?
what did the fin look like? how big? what color?

The reason I ask is because part of L pod was just outside the Westport harbor yesterday morning, so it's very possible you saw one of them... in which case keep surfing and be fucking stoked!

[whatcomridaz]

This was actually in Melbourne. Mmmm warm water surfing, I think it was a sandbar shark, saw a couple of them out 5 footers or so yesterday as well. One caught a fish on the same wave my buddy's gf was riding. Had to get my ass out of the water again

[Knockneed Man]

Here's a photo of me releasing the largest brown trout ever... IGFA didn't qualify it as a world record because my leader was too long. Caught on a shimano tiagra 130 w/ 130lb test and 500 lb mono leader, using a large nightcrawler for bait.

Thats sick... A little off topic here, but that photo reminds me of when I was free diving off of Wailea, cruising above a reef following two spotted eagle rays, just zoning out on 'em. I then followed them off a drop off and into the blue water and after a few minutes felt a "bump" behind me on the tips of my fins. I thought it was my buddy but as I started to turn around, I saw my buddy about 30 ft away, with eyes as big as pie plates, pointing behind me... Spun around to see a 10ft tiger just cruising slow like a missle. I walked on water back to the sea kayak.

[Superstar Punani]

I've seen enough dolphins to tell if a dorsal fin is shark, dolphin or something else.

Had a couple of sketchy experiences. Once in Montara north of Half Moon Bay, surfing in foggy conditions. During a lull I saw a triangular light gray/white fin about a foot tall breach the surface maybe 10 yards from me, go straight for 20 feet parallel to shore, then slowly submerge. I paddled as fast as I can, careful not to make a panic splash, and humped the ground when I got to the shore uneaten.

Another time in Lennox Head, Australia. Surfing perfect 4-6 foot waves and just me and two buddies out at dusk. Suddenly the whole ocean comes alive. small medium and large fish start jumping around, birds start dive-bombing, when then we realize we're in the middle of a giant feeding frenzy. 2 buds get the first two waves in, and I spot the 3rd wave of the set which was twice as big, so I waited for that one. As the wave loomed I could see this huge 10 foot dark shape underwater making a beeline for me. Took off on a wave and never looked back til I was at the shore. Later found out at the local pbu that there's been shitloads of sightings that week.

[SJP]

My Dorsal experience...

I was out solo wave sailing at Yallingup, just north of Margaret River when I saw a dorsal fin crest a swell just outside of the break. It definitely got the heart racing and I was very careful not to blow my gybe for my reach back in. As I caught a wave back in to the beach, two dolphins jumped clear of the wave a little further down the line. It was instant relief and a very magical experience.

Back home in Canada the only spooky experiences have been getting nudged and bumped by curious seals. You just hope that it is not a horny male lookin' for a little lovin'.

[boarddad]

My freakiest story; I was stuck in Stockton for about 6 months and got in the habit of driving to Santa Cruz to surf every w/e. I'd get to SC at dawn, pull a session, then head up the coast catching whatever surf I saw up to Half Moon Bay, then head back inland - all solo. Good times and it beat the shit out of spending any more time in Stockton than I had to. One time I had stopped in Davenport Landing (a notoriously sharky area with numerous confirmed attacks) and saw some decent surf with noone out so I suited up and headed out. I'm just getting the lineup wired when another single surfer paddles out to join me. We trade waves for a while and never said a word to each other. He's following me paddling out after a set when the biggest dorsal I'd ever seen coarses the surface about 20 yards past the break. I stopped and sat up on my board to get a better look, when the stranger paddles out past me. Well, hell, I think, he was right behind me, he had to have seen it too...I must have been seeing things. I start paddling out again and a minute later we're both sitting outside the break when he finally talks;
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah."

OK, now this is definitely freaking me out. I'm sitting outside a notoriously sharky reef break with a total stranger, just waiting for one of us to get hit so the other can drag his bloody ass in. This can't be good. We both sat there in silence, eyes locked on the horizon through an entire set, when we finally saw it...a pod of dolphins! I've never been so happy to see Flipper in all my life.

I surfed the Central Coast for over a decade and that was the closest I've ever come to seeing a shark (could have been a shark I first saw - who knows?). I did see some fairly agressive elephant seals on a couple of different occasions though - those may be even scarier.