A kayaker in the Canary Islands had a nerve-wracking encounter with a shark while paddling off the coast of Tazacorte, La Palma on Saturday. The peaceful excursion turned into an unexpected adventure when a shark came uncomfortably close, prompting the kayaker to defend himself with his paddle… and a few choice words in Spanish!
As the shark circled near the kayak, the kayaker shouted, "¡Cabrón, sale pa’ lla, pa’ casa el carajo!" (loosely translating to "Get outta here, damn it!"), while striking the water with his paddle to scare it away.
Fortunately, the shark showed no signs of aggression, but its proximity was enough to put the kayaker on high alert. After several attempts to frighten the shark, it finally swam off, leaving the kayaker to continue his journey, albeit heading to land very quickly.
Though shark sightings in this area are uncommon, experts note that species like the blue shark, often found in Canary Island waters, typically avoid humans and boats. In this case, however, the close encounter transformed a leisurely paddle into an unforgettable experience.
Authorities reassured the public that these sharks generally pose no threat to humans, but advise people to stay calm if they come across one.
The local was forced to act after seeing the shark start to circle him and come near his kayak while he enjoyed a day out. The shark was identified as a hammerhead, the same type most experts believe could have been responsible for attacking a German woman last Monday on a British-flagged catarman who died as she was airlifted to a hospital in Gran Canaria.
Social media users tried to play down the incident by insisting hammerhead sharks are normally not aggressive towards humans, even though the species has been linked to last Monday’s incident involving a 30-year-old German traveling on a pleasure craft called Dalliance Chichester.
She suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on a Spanish Air Force helicopter taking her to hospital after having her leg bitten off.The incident occurred as the catamaran was in international waters 278 miles south-west of Gran Canaria’s airport and around 110 miles east of the city of Dakhla in the disputed territory of Western Sahara which is currently occupied by Morocco.
The unnamed victim was pronounced dead on arrival at Doctor Negrin Hospital in the Gran Canaria capital Las Palmas just after 11pm on Monday night.
A routine probe has been opened by a court in the city. Court sources confirmed it was being treated as an accident but witnesses had not been called to give evidence, with one saying: “Proceedings have been opened as happens with any accidental death. No-one has yet been questioned and there are no immediate plans to question anyone.”
Initial reports pointed to the victim swimming in the ocean at the time although a Gran Canaria daily later reported she had been fishing with meat as bait and had one leg in the water.
In June holiday beaches on Gran Canaria’s east coast were closed following shark sightings. Local police subsequently confirmed through a drone sighting one of the sharks spotted was a 10ft-long hammerhead.
A kayaker in the Canary Islands used his paddle to fight off a hammerhead shark that persistently approached him.
Juan José Afonso, from the island of La Palma, was fishing when the predator approached him just days after a fatal shark attack elsewhere in the waters off the Spanish archipelago.
“Normally they swim a couple of times around you and go away, but this one kept coming and going, and then he came in to bite me right where I was sitting, in the middle of the kayak,” Mr Afonso told the station Radio Canaria.
“That worried me. This is strange, I thought,” he added.
The video shows Mr Afonso putting down his fishing rod and preparing to defend himself from the circling shark, dealing the predator two blows to its head and side.
“Bastard, go away!” he shouts during the attack off the coast of Tazacorte.
The incident came a week after a 30-year-old German woman was killed after a shark ripped off one of her legs while she was sailing on a boat 270 miles south of the Canary Islands.
She died of a heart attack while being airlifted to hospital in Gran Canaria. It was the first known death caused by a shark attack in the Canary Islands’ history.
According to experts, it was most likely to have been a chance encounter with a tiger shark or a great white shark.
The woman was sitting on the edge of a UK-flagged catamaran and throwing bait into the sea to attract fish when the attack took place, according to media reports.
Hammerhead sharks are frequently sighted around the Canary Islands, and generally not considered dangerous to humans, although they are curious and often approach boats.
In June, beaches in Gran Canaria were closed after a hammerhead was seen swimming in the waters, at one point coming right up to the shoreline and sending bathers at Melenara beach running out of the water in panic.
