Shark Attacked Kayaker in Shelter Cove

David alexander and his kayak covered in tooth marks

David Alexander and the shark’s toothmarks in his kayak. [Photo used with permission of David Alexander]

Yesterday afternoon, a shark chomped onto the end of a kayak in Shelter Cove and threw the kayaker into the water where they were eye to eye. But, fortunately, the kayaker lived to tell us the story of his terrifying experience.

David Alexander, Superintendent at Bellevue Union School District in Southern Santa Rosa, said with the fires and the stresses of the recent time, he knew he needed a break. He decided to go to fishing at Shelter Cove but didn’t have a partner. “You never go alone,” he said. So he reached out through an online group and found a partner. “I don’t even know his last name. His handle is Three money J. His real name is John. I met him for the first time at Shelter Cove.”

They launched about 6:30 in the morning and had a good day of fishing and wildlife encounters. “Earlier in the day I saw the most interesting whale,” Alexander said. “It came straight at me and he goes right under my boat.” Alexander said he was worried about accidentally hooking the whale but luckily did not. Then, he said, “About a half hour later, he comes back and cuts right in front of my boat….Typically I like seeing whales…but that was close.”

The two kayakers were through for the day and heading in, Alexander said. “We were heading south and…rounding the lighthouse…I heard a thud…It felt like the front of my boat was lifting up …I heard a sound sort of sandpaperish…a grinding sound. For a second I thought I was being lifted up onto a wash rock…I saw grey and then I said, ‘That’s not a rock. That’s a shark!’

What Alexander saw then keeps replaying in his head. He saw the shark chomp down on either side of the tip of his vessel. He told us. “He had the front of my kayak literally in his mouth…It was like he was smoking it like a cigar…It was surreal.”

Simultaneous to seeing the shark, Alexander was being thrown from the kayak. “I hear the thud.. feel the push and I’m rolling to the right,” he said. With his gear and his glasses falling into the water with him, he went under then bobbed up.

“I was probably about 4 feet from the shark,” he told us. “I’m in the water…I don’t know if he is looking at me, but I’m looking at him….When he hit the boat, I fell off on the same side his face…I could see both eyes–one side more than the other…His eyes are so dark…I could see his teeth and his gums. You see those rows of teeth…that’s something else.”

He paused…”I wonder how many times that is going to play in my head.”

He said he asked himself, “What do you do when he let’s go?” Alexander said he really thought the shark would let go of the boat and then come after him. “He is facing me, he has to swim towards me,” Alexander said. He mentally prepared himself for the worst. “I thought he was going to let go and then go after me,” he said. I thought…I’ve had a good life. I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”

But, the shark didn’t come towards him. “He kinda loosened his jaw from where his teeth were embedded in the kayak,” Alexander explained. “He turned on a dime. He almost went 180 degrees from the direction of where he was at.Then he headed towards John.” Alexander said he was worried that his kayaking partner would be attacked. Then there was a splash and the shark disappeared beneath the water.

“I heard [John] on the radio,” he told us. “He asked if I was okay. I said, ‘I’m not bit or anything.’ And John spoke over the radio telling whomever he was talking to, ‘He is okay and he is alright.’ But a bunch of boats came over quick, which was really cool.”

Alexander got himself out of the water and back into his kayak. “I did a self rescue,” he explained. “[If you kayak,] practice your self rescue. When it happens under stress in rough water, it’s different than in a pool…When you are dangling on the side, it’s hard to be calm.”

It took three tries to right his boat.and he thinks he smacked himself in the process. “I think when I was flipping it back over it came and smacked me a couple of times,” he told us. “I think I broke my hand.”

Then, once in the kayak, he discovered that the shark had bitten so deeply it was leaking, but he had a bilge pump still attached and was able to follow his partner to shore while pumping out the water.

He wanted to be sure to clarify the situation for our readers. “I wasn’t dragging fish,” he said. “I don’t bleed fish unless it is salmon, But I didn’t have any.”

He thinks the shark was “a little Great White.” He said that he believed the creature was only 13-15 feet long.

Toothmarks on a kayak

The kayak’s plastic is curled back “like butter.”

Alexander said that he’s glad he was prepared. “I was wearing a dry suit,” he explained. “I wear a personal flotation device. I had a bilge pump…That little bilge pump is a life saver.” He also was glad his partner had the VHF radio. And Alexander said he was glad he had a partner to help him navigate the situation. “He kept his cool,” Alexander said. “You got to go out with people, you don’t go out by yourself.”

After he got safely to land, he could see how the shark’s teeth had sliced through the walls of his yellow kayak “like butter.”

He said he told everyone, “Life’s good…I guess I’m ready to go home.” And, when he got to his house, he said he just kept petting his dog over and over.

“I lost my prescription glasses,” he said. “I lost my rod and reel…I guess I need a new kayak…but it’s only stuff.”

But then he added, “All I can think about right now is his mouth on my boat… He repeated again in an awestruck tone, “It was like he was smoking it like a cigar…you can see teeth marks on both side… It’s kind of surreal.”

Eric Stockwell, a local kayaking guide, said that shark attacks are very unusual–even seeing sharks are unusual. He told us, “I’ve been doing this sport since 1999 and abalone diving much longer than that, and I’ve seen the one big white in November of 2018 and a big mako at the Cove just recently. Neither one was aggressive, and many of us think (know) that we are seen by the sharks much more than we see them.”

He shared this video of the encounter he had with a shark.

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Danny Moitoso
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Danny Moitoso
3 years ago

Anyone want to buy a Kayak I’m done

Wendell
Guest
Wendell
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

Ya I do. I need a quality sit on top

Sheryl E Bentley
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

Need a bigger boat !!

ivanvbadd
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ivanvbadd
3 years ago

Got ya

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
3 years ago

I’ve got a 12 ft heavy duty aluminum rowboat I’d love to sell. Not kidding. Kym’s got my email.

K. Jens
Guest
K. Jens
3 years ago
Reply to  Lynn H

Hi, Is it in good condition…need any repairs, etc.? Also, How much and in what county are you?

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
3 years ago
Reply to  K. Jens

I’m in downtown Redway. $350. Firm. 672 5550

Old boat. One seat is cracked- has been cracked for over a decade, and it has black Rhino coat over it. But it’s very heavy duty aluminum from the 60″s I think.

We used to take it down the Eel, it’s practically indestructible. Heavy- need 2 people to load on a PU truck.

M murph
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M murph
3 years ago
Reply to  Lynn H

Do u have pictures you could text to 916-997-4573 ? Thanks mike m.

Sylvana
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Sylvana
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

I’m looking for one let me know….. [email protected]

Sandra Metzger
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

just don’t take it in the ocean. Fresh water is an option.

Amn2775
Guest
Amn2775
3 years ago
Reply to  Sandra Metzger

Gators in fresh water…….

John
Guest
John
3 years ago
Reply to  Amn2775

No gators in fresh water on the WC… just big trout.

Anne Lund
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Sandra Metzger

I agree. The only problem is bull shark has come into fresh water. Up around me in NJ , there have been several bull shark sightings. The State FG and Wildlife is investigating.

Diana Branch
Guest
Diana Branch
3 years ago
Reply to  Sandra Metzger

There are sharks in the rivers also.

TommyChang75
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TommyChang75
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

Duh nuh! Duh nuh! Duh nuh! Duh nuh!!!🦈

David Maye
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

You have to bring snacks for sharks.

Real talk
Guest
Real talk
3 years ago
Reply to  Danny Moitoso

Lmao, I feel you!

Nelson
Guest
Nelson
3 years ago

Say if you ever win big at the lottery
And you live to tell the tale

Peridot
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Nelson

Flex Seal tape will repair that damaged kayak.

Jeffersonian
Guest
Jeffersonian
3 years ago
Reply to  Nelson

The whale was warning him of the shark. I know of three abalone divers that have been attacked by sharks between fort brag and bear harbor over the years and lots of surfers at humboldt bay entrance area. The attacks are not rare.

Pamela
Guest
Pamela
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeffersonian

Exactly what I was thinking!

Anna Aureli
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeffersonian

I thought so too…that the whale was warning him…

Dorje
Guest
Dorje
3 years ago

when I saw this headline I thought “never go alone” but he didn’t! Guess I am getting a bilge pump ….. So glad you are OK David!

Doc James
Guest
Doc James
3 years ago
Reply to  Dorje

Me too! Bilge pump for the win!!!!

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Wow. What an adventure story. Scary but good ending.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago

🕯🌳A story for the grandkids.

Iffer
Guest
Iffer
3 years ago

I understand that sharks don’t usually go after people. They get confused as people can look like seals and sea lions from underneath. Your kayak may have looked like a yummy sea lion? Like biting into a rubber chicken? 🤭

Max
Guest
Max
3 years ago

Whoah. Glad to know he made it out okay.

Redlogger
Guest
Redlogger
3 years ago

They say that getting attacked by a shark is less likely than getting hit by lightning. But when you play in the ocean off northern California, it changes the odds dramatically.

teri
Guest
teri
3 years ago
Reply to  Redlogger

Wondering if possibly the shark had been following the whale that may have been sick or injured and then bit the kayak that she thought was the whale?

Two O'clock
Guest
Two O'clock
3 years ago
Reply to  teri

Or the whale was giving him a warning or trying to prevent his Hobie from becoming a Hoagie, or in the kayakers’ words, a stogie.

The shark in the video looks like it has some injuries to its’ side.
That can turn them into maneaters.
Or maybe in this case, kayak eaters.
I know it wasn’t necessarily the same shark. It’s possible.
There is definitely one out there that has a taste for kayaks.

Peridot
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Redlogger

More people are killed by falling coconuts every year than are killed by sharks.
For that matter, more people die in the USA from bee stings each year than shark attack.

Cows on farms kill more folks. So do dogs.

Gary
Guest
Gary
3 years ago
Reply to  Peridot

So what your saying is would u rather get ate by a dog or shark? How about neither, stay out of the ocean, and never crawl into a dog house to see if anyone is home!

RUTH
Guest
RUTH
3 years ago
Reply to  Gary

That’s hilarious!😂

miq
Guest
miq
3 years ago
Reply to  Peridot

Agreed. And here a person was literally in a potential shark zone.

Fred
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Peridot

More people die from wearing a red hat and no mask.

RUTH
Guest
RUTH
3 years ago
Reply to  Fred

That’s hilarious!

punkybrewstersmind
Guest
punkybrewstersmind
3 years ago
Reply to  Peridot

And its fair to remember that over 100 MILLION sharks are killed by humans every single year. Many of them are killed for their fins (soup) and the rest is often thrown away.

Anna Aureli
Guest
3 years ago

I know…it’s awful…poor sharks..

Weread
Guest
Weread
3 years ago

Ya I do. I need a quality sit on top

Puest
Guest
Puest
3 years ago

Of course the “Yak” was “Yum Yum Yellow”!!!

alto
Guest
alto
3 years ago
Reply to  Puest

Wasn’t the fellow in SC recently on a yellow board too, so much for that theory.

Brian Correiar
Guest
3 years ago

Welcome to the club!

A 17-18 ft GW knocked me out of my kayak then used it as a chew toy in Monterey Bay back in 2017.

The boat sits on my back patio now.

Take your time to decide how you feel about getting back out on the water. It’s not a decision anyone else can make for you. It took me a month. I jumped at every splash for months.

brianc

Anna Aureli
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Brian Correiar

Wow… Someone should come up with a design to paint underneath and around the boat to scare sharks away…

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
3 years ago

Stay at home, save lives!
Gavin said so💩
There is no excuse to be traveling around spreading coronavirus and killing elderly people just so you can ride around on a kayak two counties from your home.
Real Nor-Cal is not not a recreation zone for you white supremacist suburban boobs.
Go to Trader Joe’s if you want a thrill, and stay out of our towns!

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Wow if this is what triggers your neo-liberalism please stay home. Vote Donald Trump 2020!

Jolynn Gibson-Jacobs
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Exactly. I’m voting for him too. In person. Not by mail. Trump 2020! We’ve got to have 4 more years(at least)🇺🇸

Thesteve4761
Guest
Thesteve4761
3 years ago

You realize that’s a waste in CA, where this blog is based, right?

Linda Sue Burnam
Guest
3 years ago

Scarier than any shark!

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

That was so good I thought it was satire, or at least something similar

onrust
Guest
onrust
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I think you are confusing neoliberal with neanderthal. Oh, you must mean Dead Man Walking.

William Meglan
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Where’s your integrity?
Fake president + bullshit,con = fake news.

Susan
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

NEVER!!!!!!!!

I’D VOTE FOR A DOG FIRST

Jolynn Gibson-Jacobs
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Oh knock it off looney lib. We happen to live in a free country and it’s going to remain that way. Besides that, he wasn’t endangering anyone, so mind your own business, the whole paragraph was completely uncalled for and you are a bully, plain and simple.

Steve-o
Guest
Steve-o
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Stop being a halfwit. I’m white and like to go out and Kayak and fish but doesn’t mean I’m racist. Why does everyone always have to bring race into everything. Shit a 12 to 15 ft shark is small. We just had are first recorded shark kill off the coast of Maine. Glad you made it home.

HOGRANCH
Guest
HOGRANCH
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

WHAT a thing to say, the ocean is for everybody to enjoy. I would like to tell you my thoughts greedy.

Anna Aureli
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

Wow….and where is this hate and racism coming from ?….Also they were in open water far away from crowds…. Your comment is pure non sense…..

VCJ
Guest
VCJ
3 years ago
Reply to  Canyon oak

WTH ?

Dave Dexter
Guest
3 years ago

I have seen the Owl.
Maybe, just maybe, that whale returned to
Warn you of danger. Maybe.

kem
Guest
kem
3 years ago
Reply to  Dave Dexter

I was thinking the same thing!

Shawna
Guest
Shawna
3 years ago
Reply to  Dave Dexter

You darling dears do appreciate the fact that a lot of the population never see shark infested salt water… If were talking SATITICS that is! 👄

Li-
Guest
Li-
3 years ago

Hey y’all, a 12′ great white is still young enough to be learning what-all is edible besides the fish-diet they grew up on…
Gotta taste to find out.
But they rarely bite people on purpose; we smell pretty yucky compared to their usual fresh seafood.
Bet that adolescent shark now has a scary story of his own, about the stinky bad-tasting alien who broke into pieces but wasn’t injured & kept staring (“menacingly”) at him until he “escaped”..!
But seriously, glad all is well, dude.
Li-

Earl J Cable
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Li-

That shark definitely has his own story to tell lol 🤣

Sheila McEnany
Guest
Sheila McEnany
3 years ago

I too, have seen the owl. Likely the whale was a harbinger.

Polly Styrene
Guest
Polly Styrene
3 years ago
Reply to  Sheila McEnany

What is the ‘owl’?

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
3 years ago

Dude almost got smoked!

Charlie
Guest
Charlie
3 years ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

I was a waterhead down there for many years. Mostly belly boarding but I also sailed a board and a 14 foot dinghy out of the cove.

I once saw a shark as long as my boat come up behind me while I was ghosting along just offshore with a light breeze. I was going maybe a couple miles per hour. First the dorsal fin broke the surface then the tail which was 8 to 10 feet behind the fin. It swam closer then gradually went under my boat and disappeared.

There were a couple ab divers a couple hundred feet ahead and I yelled at them to get out of the water and into their boat ’cause I had just seen a big shark heading their way. They did!

When I moved to the lost coast after surfing in Santa Cruz it took a real change in mind set to go out here. Down there I cursed the crowds but up here I definitely knew I was not the top of the food chain.

And I never ate shark…

I’m glad you made it back to shore intact to tell the tale!

Carie
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Charlie

Oh my goodness just reading ur story makes me so jealous. Lol. I’ve grown up in boring Columbus Ohio all my life & long to live in California or Oregon or somewhere beautiful like that, by the ocean. It would b so nice!

David
Guest
David
3 years ago

I actually went kayak shark fishing last year ( stupid bucket list thing) in Texas and will never try that again. I caught one, only about 3′ long and it pulled me all over the place faster then I could ever paddle. I finally pulled it close (black tip) and let it go. I couldn’t imagine one big enough to put my kayak in its mouth, that nightmare would never go away! Never again, marked off list now.

Hellen barnes
Guest
3 years ago

Wow. You definitely need a bigger boat. Someones gonna get EATEN B4 LONG

Casual Observer
Guest
Casual Observer
3 years ago

Wow what an experience. Thank you for sharing and glad you lived to tell the tale. Everytime I go into the sea I remember that I am at her mercy and practice the art of letting go of any misconceptions of control. This is a good reminder that we are heading into shark season in Humboldt. I saw a dead seal on the beach of the Herrick exit recently. Be safe out there folks seems Mr. White is on patrol.

Losa Hull
Guest
3 years ago

It’s a KNOWN fact that 90% of shark attacks are in yellow kyacks. The yellow is a stimulant to the sharks eye. Its the one color that causes a shark to attack

Earl J Cable
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Losa Hull

That’s correct I have read that multiple times

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
3 years ago
Reply to  Losa Hull

Is that true? Like a giant shark lure? Trolling for sharks?

trackback

[…] on his way in with another kayak fisherman he partnered with through an online group, according to Redheaded Blackbelt , a local news […]

Melody
Guest
Melody
3 years ago

Glad u are okay!!! Had my own encounter years ago on a surfboard, and it was definitely over 11’ long… bumped my board and luckily I stayed on. I had to get back in the water quick or I knew I never would again… but that decision is yours alone. Just glad ur okay!!’n

LB Boydstun, retired CDFG
Guest
LB Boydstun, retired CDFG
3 years ago

A great white followed my row boat in Shelter Cove. I stood up and watched it swim past my boat, which was small in comparison. The following week a diver was killed by a GW in Bear Harbor. Ill never forget those events. That was in Sept 1965.

Squib
Guest
Squib
3 years ago

They dont call it Yum Yum Yellow for no reason

Surfvivor
Guest
Surfvivor
3 years ago
Reply to  Squib

Sharks are color blind my friend.

Rachelle Barrett
Guest
3 years ago

Holy cow what a great tale that has reached Atlantic Bch, Fl. Not just Cali folks. Can’t believe all the political convo that followed. I do agree that the comment on staying home so you don’t kill our elders was ridiculously over the top. Kyacking sounds like social distancing to me. Thank you for the great entertainment everyone!!! Made me smile, laugh.

Chris Hoffman
Guest
3 years ago

Does anybody know where i can get a .50 caliber spear gun with armor piercing incinerating rounds.

Cecile ketchup
Guest
Cecile ketchup
3 years ago

God blessed that man because the whale was warning him and then God protect him from the shark and then he met someone in the water talking about God is good but my suggestion is get a bigger boat and be more careful please sending blessings your way to the young man that helped and to the gentleman that was not harmed in this situation peace be with you

R.A.
Guest
R.A.
3 years ago

“Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’.”

Gertrud Conway
Guest
Gertrud Conway
3 years ago

Hope the Shark is okay!

Kevdog
Guest
Kevdog
3 years ago

I live in Cape Cod. We’re totally infested with sharks right now. My boy in cali sees them all the time too. Their numbers are making a huge comeback due to the population explosion of seals. The ocean is their home. Just always show them the respect they deserve

Big Mike
Guest
3 years ago

Paint your kayak so it looks like an orca and hang a speaker making their noises. That should clear out the whites with their big tasty livers.