Great white Shark Monterey bay 12/21/13

 when I try and guess the size.. it is kind of hard----I could not see down and into the water and could only see the dorsal fin top 1/2-2/3rds  and the tail fin and part of the tail where it gets fat on each side before the tail fin...when it left it did two huge sweeps with it's tail again and it was propelled under me in a flash....when i first saw it-it had already been splashing for few seconds that I heard..I was looking back into the low slung winter solstice -rising sun in the south east right in line with my back end---and the water was skimmed over in glitter and dark spots-reflection...but the feature that does stick in my head was how close the dorsal was to the drain plug area of my cobra kayak( like five feet at the most) and the distance from that dorsal to the tail fin...about a paddle length..7'+ between fins....and my best wild guess on the sharks size by the size of the area splashing and moving ,was about the size of the shark below in this borrowed google images picture

one thing that bothers me...is now in doing some educated image browsing of GWs on the net...the dorsal is far back and the snout has a decent run of body before the dorsal...like in these pics.....it should not bother me so much -but- it IS nagging at me to 'know' how big it kinda was....or try and learn more/know

I could really see the detail on the portion of fin right behind me...colors...shading...notching...look at thes pics...the head is longgggggggggg...wtf...was it's head AT my drain plug?????

oh and the last Mola with chunk missing pictures were taken a month or so before,30 feet from the sat 12/21/13 encounter spot

I guess it could have been worse

Based on the bite radius on the mola, over 16' if it was the same shark.

"The bite radius was 18 inches (46 cm), allowing experts to extrapolate the shark was 16–18 feet (4.9–5.5 m) long"

what bite...you guys said that was sea lions...or I would have up taken knitting,or baking

Looks like a crow ate the anus out of that Mola-Mola.

what bite...you guys said that was sea lions...or I would have up taken knitting,or baking

The bite radius is too big for a sea lion. How tall was the dorsal fin?

no way of knowing...and as far as the same shark...is that not like saying hey I caught that fish once before, last year

the dorsal fin was big and thick and half under water and scary...I could not get my tape to reach back and measure quick enough...I only saw part of the fin as it's head was under my kayak down a foot or so so he would not flip me...i'm gonna be sick...

For those new to NCKA in the last 3 years, ever wonder why Nathan's handle is "shark bait"?
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25219.0

For those new to NCLA in the last 3 years, ever wonder why Nathan's handle is "shark bait"?
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25219.0

Don't remind me...I dive with him too much for me to have that image in my head all the time... 

Sincerely,

Jim

For those new to NCKA in the last 3 years, ever wonder why Nathan's handle is "shark bait"?
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25219.0

just reading the first page and two things jump out at me ...first

"as to the hobie, red yak, yum yum yellow, small kayak stuff.  He was in a natural green trident 13, rudder down, yellow paddle" ----same color yak and paddle as me without the rudder...I have thought I might stick to the yellow paddle ,it really reflects bright plastic contrast to the kayak (bigger profile?)when sitting sideways on my lap

 second.."Sounds like you guys saw Whitey.....and a big one too.    Dorsal = leading edge curves back; trailing edge straight with a tattered edge.  Many times the fin is lighter in front and darker in back"
...the thing that my monkey brain was trying to compute before I was 100% sure great white..was the curve from the dorsal so different than on t.v or pictures ...not a cartoon triangle with straight lines or  distant camera still shot..it was very alive and soft looking, dramatic sloped /curved back and darker back edge and tattered

I have thought about crazy stuff like a blinking light or...tying basketballs in some netting and dragging them..maybe they hate nets...crazy stuff...twenty nerf footballs..strung on a red rope 2 foot apart- like x-mas popcorn strings......drag that...confuse the shit out of it

I'm joking but what if ...a big car back up detection unit rigged to an air horn...

no way of knowing...and as far as the same shark...is that not like saying hey I caught that fish once before, last year

...I could not get my tape to reach back and measure quick enough...

Dude that is funny. Sounds like a white shark "drive bye". There have several of those over the years. i always wondered why there wasn't more shark sitings in that area given the number of seals. If there are seals around, white sharks will hang out in a location for awhile. My main boat is a yellow hobie so I don't buy the yum yum yellow or flipper thing. When they are in the attack mode, they come straight up from the bottom and all they probably see is a sillouette of your kayak. Don't let this stop you from kayak fishing by any means. If you read the shark bait thread, after the sighting we went back to fishing and fished for several more hours in the same area.

you guys were brave-(thinks something different)-to stay and fish..I also thought "why waste this nice paddle out"? , "why not try a few sets and see if I can calm down now and catch some good fish ,after all it seems to be gone"...then I thought "I'm no pussy" followed quickly by...but I aint stupid either....better to leave now...

For those new to NCKA in the last 3 years, ever wonder why Nathan's handle is "shark bait"?
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25219.0