Great White Shark Investigates Kayaker in Monterey Bay

A 26-year-old who was surfing off the coast of Manresa State Beach on the north end of Monterey Bay was killed in a shark attack over the weekend. The species of shark involved in the fatal attack is not known for sure, but local photographer Eric Mailander told KRON4 News how he has been seeing an increased number of great white sharks swimming in the area in recent days.

And then this startling footage surfaced..

California resident Giancarlo Thomae captured footage of what he said was a great white shark investigating a kayaker in Monterey Bay on May 9. You can see the ominous figure lurking in the water below, probably trying to figure out how it can get the kayaker to ‘go for a swim.’

The fatal shark attack on the young surfer last weekend was obviously startling and extremely unfortunate, especially given how rare shark attacks are. Then to see a video of someone on a kayak being stalked by a 12-foot great white just five or so miles from where the recent attack occurred is pretty jarring!

Typically, sharks don’t want anything to do with humans. Although the U.S. leads the world in number of unprovoked attacks in 2019 with 41 confirmed cases, attacks usually happen because the animal mistakes a surfer or swimmer for a seal or sea turtle.

OutdoorHub Editor: Keenan Crow

Keenan Crow is an outdoor writer who graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism and creative writing. He has been writing for OutdoorHub for nearly five years, but anybody he is close with will tell you he has been telling hunting stories for far longer. He uses his experiences outdoors to write about things he loves - bow hunting, fishing, upland hunting, shed hunting, turkey hunting, waterfowl hunting, dog training, shotguns, ATVs and the outdoor lifestyle he lives in his home state of Michigan. Outside of hunting/fishing, he also loves to cook - especially with wild game - play golf and go on hikes with his yellow lab, Stella.