Close call with a hammer head shark

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/fisherman-fends-shark-kayak-paddle

What did he do right and what could he have done better or had on him in case he ended up in the water and the paddle was of no use?

At least he was safe in the end!

I've said it before, but...

he could have just kept paddling instead of f****** with the shark.  That was a pretty small hammer and not likely to have done anything to him unless provoked.

I've said it before, but...

he could have just kept paddling instead of f****** with the shark.  That was a pretty small hammer and not likely to have done anything to him unless provoked.

Yup! The video of that thing reminded me of a wasp. Pretty calm and curious until you start swatting at it, then it goes into a frenzy!

Interesting to think that you guys would just try to ignore a shark bumping your kayak and continue to paddle like nothing is messing with you. It seems counter intuitive. At what point is a shark considered to be "provoking" a human? I wonder what a game warden would say if a gws was that size, doing the same thing, and the kayaker injured or killed it and it was on video? Self defense?

it would've been interesting to see how the shark would react if a shark shield was deployed after getting bonked multiple times on its head with a paddle.

Makes me want to invest in a bang stick loaded with .12 guage OO buck or rifled slug. Amazing how fast it was zipping around.

Ask MontanaN8V about the SSS method as a means of disposing of protected predators #itsbangtime

Interesting to think that you guys would just try to ignore a shark bumping your kayak and continue to paddle like nothing is messing with you. It seems counter intuitive. At what point is a shark considered to be "provoking" a human? I wonder what a game warden would say if a gws was that size, doing the same thing, and the kayaker injured or killed it and it was on video? Self defense?

The reason I'd ignore it is that this has happened multiple times off La Jolla this year with even larger hammers (10+ footers, not the little one in this video) where they have been at least somewhat aggressive with bumping the kayak.  But none of them have worked into a ridiculous frenzy as those kayakers were fairly experienced and just left the scene without much additional stress.  Eventually the hammer moves onto something more interesting.  You can read up on those on BWE - there's been quite a few encounters, one that even shut down La Jolla Shores for a day because the kayaker wasn't very experienced and reported it to authorities.

Remember these are wild animals, they have tiny brains and can't comprehend when someone is just F'in with them to be a jerk and collect youtube views.  If the animal is tellin' you that he doesn't like you in his territory, its usually best to just leave. 

As for the self-defense angle, that kayaker wasn't in immediate danger from what I could tell.  There have been very few hammerhead attacks in the past, and they are a piscivore primarily.  The likelihood of a hammerhead attacking a human (especially one on 13 feet of plastic) for food and not defense is very unlikely.  If a great white is attacking you, you could defend yourself obviously, but killing a GWS with any sort of weapons a kayaker would have on hand wouldn't be easy and would be less useful than just hitting it in the snout. 

I'm no shark expert but I would get the hell out of the water. With a shark dat size n if I fell into the water it can cause some damage to u or worst if your paddle breaks...there aint no way u going home.

What about throwing a bait at it?  I caught one probably double that size, off of a panga in Mexico. Anyone ever mess with bringing them to the side of your kayak?

Makes me want to invest in a bang stick loaded with .12 guage OO buck or rifled slug. Amazing how fast it was zipping around.

The video shows how well the head shape of the hammerhead gives it tremendous maneuverability, as well as prey locating sense enhancement.

No PFD!!! & some sort of  suspicious line in the water... was he dragging a carcass to get this video?

No PFD!!! & some sort of  suspicious line in the water... was he dragging a carcass to get this video?

It's so cal not many wear pfds down south.

What about throwing a bait at it?  I caught one probably double that size, off of a panga in Mexico. Anyone ever mess with bringing them to the side of your kayak?

In reality I think this guy had been feeding it to get pictures. Then quit feeding it so what happens if you feed a bear he wants more.