Photo: Powerlines Productions // YouTube
A Bay Area surfer is counting his blessings after having an exceptionally close encounter with a shark this weekend. Jens Heller was paddling out at San Mateo County’s Montara State Beach when the aquatic predator clamped down on his board. Luckily, Heller emerged unscathed and a local videographer was there to interview him about the experience.
“I was sitting on the board and then I felt something under my foot [that] kicked me off the board,” said Heller in an interview with Bay Area surfing YouTube channel Powerlines Productions. “I looked back and then saw this big mouth, just grabbing on to my board.”
He then proceeded to show off a massive outline of teeth on the side of his board. Though Heller only saw the animal’s face, another surfer who promptly returned to shore after the encounter estimated the shark was about ten feet long.
“I just remember being in the water, looking back, and seeing this black eye and the teeth of the shark,” continued Heller. “Then I just tried to grab my board as fast as possible and come back in.”
Though the encounter went about as well as a run-in with a shark can go, the experience is surely one that will be seared into Heller’s memory for life. “It felt like I couldn’t paddle fast enough,” he explained. “It felt like I was in slow motion, while I was trying to get away. I was like, ‘Man, this shark will be so much faster than me. If he really wants to get me, he’ll get there. He’ll definitely get there.'”
