Shark attacks are extremely rare at Pacifica, but there are some warning signs that were posted Tuesday night. The kayaker, Micah Flansburg, was easy to talk to us, but you could tell he was still a bit shaken.
"It was intense. It was just like the Discovery Channel where you see the eyes roll to the back of the head and the pink gums and his teeth bared," said Flansburg.
There's no doubt in Flansburg's mind. It was a great white shark.
"It almost instantly, the shark came and it hit the bottom of the boat, lifted the boat up, and grabbed ahold of it and just started shaking the whole boat, and I'm just hanging on to this thing," said Flansburg.
"I had my paddle on my lap, and my fishing pole and a bottle of home brew. The next thing I know, every single thing I had went flying in the air, it hit me so hard," said Flansburg.
Flansburg was fishing about 100 yards off of Pedro Point, in Pacifica, around 3:30 p.m. when it happened. He doesn't remember what came out of his mouth, but his father-in-law does.
"Yeah, it was a lot if religious stuff, 'Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!'" said Ross Webber, Flansburg's father-in-law. He was in his kayak about 10 feet away. "He was riding like a bull and keeping his balance and I was like, 'Go for it! Don't fall in the water!"
Flansburg estimates he held on for 10 terrifying seconds. He estimated the shark was 10 or 11 feet long.
The Pacifica police and Flansburg believe it was a juvenile great white shark. But even after the incident, surfers kept riding the waves because police felt it happened far enough away that it wasn't necessary to close the beach.
