Confirmed GWS encounter

StinkyPete asked me to post this on here...he is having probelms with his account and can't seem to create a new post right now, but wanted folks to be aware...

Scary stuff! be safe out there fellas!! 

I posted on Saturday that someone saw a gws at Coral street. Someone saw a gws on Sunday as well. That was me.

Sunday started out like any other great dive day. We had about 40' of visibility, and were exploring some territory in the Monterey/Carmel area. I pulled a few nice fish, and around dive 15, even had a baby Gray Whale swim under me. Altogether it was a pretty awesome day at that point.

Since the visibility was so good, I think the fish were a little more skittish than usual. To counter this, I found a canyon which opened up to a big open space. I saw a few fish moving back and forth from it, so I decided to drop down and hang out at the bottom of the canyon on the edge.

On my third aspetto in the canyon, I was once again looking forward, hoping to see a fish pass by. Probably out of boredom, I started looking around me rather than just in front of me and was looking above, to the side, etc. When I glanced up and to the right towards a little pinnacle, I saw what looked like a blimp in the water.

A Great White Shark was about 10'-15' above me and in front of my right shoulder. The pinnacle blocked out the head, but I was able to see everything from about the gills back. The shark appeared to be about 16'-18' long from what I saw. Aside from the panic, what I remember the most is how freaking big the shark was. I knew what it was as soon as I saw it.

I had always imagined sharks to be slender, but this thing wasn't. The best I can describe it is to imagine a stone colored Astro Van with the wheels kicked off and a white underside and a huge dorsal fin.

At that point, I clung to the canyon wall and waited for it to pass. The shark was moving really slowly and casually, so before it was out of sight, I made my move and swam up and away from it. Fortunately, my kayak was only about 40 yards away, so I swam to it and launched myself into it. I called out, and my buddy group got in their yaks. Before this happened, I thought I'd be stoked to see one in the wild if it wasn't attacking me. Now that it's happened, I'm not stoked that it happened, haha. So yeah, that happened.

Not to be deterred, we decided to change beaches rather than call it a day. We paddled in, drove a bit further south down the road, and hopped back in. After that, we all got some nice rockfish, dove for a few more hours, and called it a day.

  Probably the same one we saw. Best way I could have described it was very similar to your. It looked like the side of my white van. Glad you guys were unscathed. Scary shit for sure.

No footage?

YIKKES!! 

Glad that Pete is ok. We were diving in that area all day yesterday. Perhaps its the migration of lion pups up north? had a few try to rip my fish off of stringer yesterday.

Thats one way to warm up the wet suit
Glad you get to tell about it

Hi Pete,
Glad that thing did not bother you. Incredible story!

Thanks for sharing your Landlord encounter Pete.  Thank you Jim for posting the story

glad you are okay pete!

Scary enough when below. Above is worse!!

Whoa! I wonder if it was out by chase reef or inshore? Either way, that's some scary sh!t

Inshore, VERY inshore. About 50 FOW, zero kelp, high tide. Only realized that the pinnipeds had disappeared once we were paddling back.

Sketch! Glad your encounter was a peaceful one. Sounds like a big boy! 

No Bueno Pete 

You think he saw you and wasn't interested?

Bet that suit was a tad bit Stinkier 

I have zero desire to ever see one.
Glad you were able to keep your head about you.