Luckily, only the board received serious damage. Photo: Honolulu Ocean Safety Department//Facebook
It’s a miracle that the tiger shark didn’t bite 24-year-old surfer Albert Westpfal. As he paddled over a wave at China Walls on Oahu’s South Shore around 4:30 p.m. on September 7, he bent his knees so his legs weren’t dangling off the end of the board. In that moment, the 12-foot shark attacked and sank its teeth into the board’s tail.
“Suddenly, I felt a strong impact from beneath and thought I had hit the reef… I heard the crunch of the fiberglass behind me,” Westpfal was quoted in a social media post by the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department. “At that moment I knew what was happening before I even saw it.”
Westpfal said the shark launched him off the board and came at him with its mouth open. He kicked and punched it in the nose, causing it to retreat.
“It thrashed around and finally backed off,” he said. “I grabbed my board and paddled to the wall and jetted into the finger and got in from there.”
He credited his friend, 24-year-old Zach Sheerer, for paddling towards the attack to help. But Westpfal rescued himself without any injuries aside from minor abrasions.
“Without even a second of hesitation, (Zach) paddled right towards me to help,” Westpfal said. “In the moment of life or death, you find out who your real friends are and I want him to recognize Zach for having my back. He thought I had been bitten and without a second thought came to the rescue.”
On Monday, September 7, large surf slammed the south shores of the Hawaiian Islands as Hurricane Lowell spun offshore. According to Surfline, waves were 15-18 feet in the region.
Earlier this summer, a shark attacked a surfer nearby at Cromwell Beach. He survived with severe lacerations to his legs and feet.
