You may have seen the video of the Tiger Shark attack already. Some misinformation has gone out that should be corrected.
And if you don’t mind, would you please consider subscribing to my YouTube video channel if you haven’t done so? Mahalo Nui Loa (thank you very much). Here’s the link to my channel.
Here’s what happened on May 12, 2023.
My partner Frank and I were able to catch 1 piece of live opelu (scad mackeral) each. The conditions were super, duper slow because it was sunny, calm with a flat tide. Everything was lazy. We took that bait out to 250ft with no bites so we drifted in. I didn’t know at the time but Frank saw what he believes was a tiger shark 10ft below the surface making its way into the shallows.
When we were on the shallow dropoff, in 55ft of water, I texted my buddies to update them on the slow condtions. While I was struggling to text through my waterproof bag, I had spun around and wrapped my line in the rudder where the Bixpy motor is mounted. I paddled towards Frank so he could free it for me and realized a fish was on the line. I was able to lift the rudder/motor out of the water, clear the wrap and land the 3lb roi (peacock grouper). Since a friend eats them carefully (they are known to be high in ciquatoxin), I sat on the right side of my kayak, side saddle, and put the roi in my fish bag behind the seat.
Then I spun back around, straddled the sides of the kayak with both feet in the water, and checked my leader line for scrapes. I heard what sounded like a boat sliding to a stop, with its motor off, and looked up and thought a large turtle was coming at me. The kayak got hit fairly hard by the shark, and I know I saw the tiger’s head, but in that second or two, I didn’t realize I had taken my left foot out of the water, and pushed the shark’s head off the kayak.
I was shooken up but didn’t realize how close the shark came to biting my foot or me. Frank didn’t hear the impact and didn’t know why I was screaming (and cussing) so he was pretty chill. Because of that I calmed down and carefully looked around. We actually fished for another half hour (in hindsight, not the smartest thing to do) and then I heard a gurgling sound that I thought was being made by a floating turtle. Instead I saw this 5ft or 6ft long brownish thing with white spots, struggling to submerge and swim. I believe this was a mortally wounded seal and decided we should really get out of the area.
I believe the tiger shark mortally wounded the seal and was waiting for it to die, when it came back and thought I was the dead seal since I had turned the Bixpy motor off and wasn’t paddling. Or maybe it thought I was a threat to its seal kill. I dunno.
When I got home I told my wife a shark rammed me, and showed her the light scratches but they were so insignificant she wasn’t too concerned. In fact, since she knew I was safe, she was more concerned for the seal!!
When we saw the video we were horified! I initially just wanted to share the video with the shark and marine scientists, but would have felt bad if that shark ended up killing someone, so I posted still photos from the video in the Oahu Kayak Club Facebook Group and notified Dr Kim Holland, our resident shark expert in Hawaii.
A friend got in touch with KITV and set up a virtual interview I reluctantly participated in. That set off the media storm and far too many people illegally repurposed what KITV had posted on their website, and a lot of misinformation was spread. To clarify further I did interviews with ABC, NBC and Hawaii News Now (HNN). By far, Stephanie Lum’s HNN interview was the most accurate.
Update (4/13/24): Check out this post with video showing what had happened right before and right after the shark “attack”.
Lucky you still have your foot!! 👍🤙😳🙄🎣
Hi Paul,
Yup crazy how I reflexively lifted my foot out of the water to brace, and pushed the shark off with that foot. Just putting my foot in the kayak normally takes some effort!
-scott
Oh man you lucky bruh, were you at? I saw a small tiger around cockroach beach a while ago. Prob lookin for turtle snack. Stay safe
Thanks!
Wow brah the tiger shark got beef with you lol
This is what happens when a shark has his heart set on1
eating a certain fish and the fish disappears on some dudes kayak. lol
What a blessing that you are safe but that is one incredible video !!
Hi Cyndy,
The information going around isn’t accurate. I landed a roi (peacock grouper) a few mins before the attack. It wasn’t what attracted the shark.
The mortally wounded seal nearby probably was.
-scott
Does anyone think this is one of Oceanramseys pet sharks?
Which Island?
Windward Oahu
I would have lost my mind. Gah! Even just watching the video while in my warm bed gives my anxiety something to go off about! Glad you came out of that unscathed! Be safe out there! 🕊️
Much Mahalo!
Hey Scott, glad you’re ok and nothing serious happened. 🙏 That’s pretty crazy stuff.
Thanks Alan, maybe I should go back to fishing for oama.
You’re a celebrity Scott. I heard this was on the news on Russian TV.
You speak Russian?
Oama may be a bit safer. Glad you are ok Scott.
You’re right Mark! Did you subscribe to my YT channel? I’m so close to qualifying for monetization. 🙂
Thank God your ok Scott 🙂.
Yes, thank you God!
Crazy encounter and even crazier you caught it on camera. Kind of scary that at least from your story, it seems like you didn’t do anything at all to provoke the attack. Really glad you’re safe after that.
Thanks Matt!
Hello Scott,
Amazing footage!
Have sent you a message but thought I’d comment here – I’m a video producer with Sky News in the UK. Would we be able to use this video on our platforms with credit given to you?
Thanks very much!
Glad that you’re safe. Think I’ll be doing some land-based fishing .
talk about a tall fishing tale that you can tell your family and friends about ! and you got it on camera! hope its a once in a lifetime event for you! glad you came out unscathed.
I’m in utter awe that you kicked that shark off your kayak!!! I think I would have froze and become shark lunch! So glad he didn’t tip your kayak!!! How long did it take for your heartbeat to slow back down?? Were you opening a bag of chips?? Lol
Hi Liz,
The weird thing was I was in denial and just thought the shark rammed me. I didn’t realize until I saw the video how close it got to my foot and body.
I was retying a hook after landing a roi.
-scott
Hi Scott
I’m glad you’re safe and sound.
I’m no shark expert, but here’s two thoughts:
— depending on how recently you’d taken fish out of water, and how far away tiger was when it detected activity, that could have attracted shark and led to attack ‘by association’?
— or more likely, if shark had already attacked seal, it thought you were coming to steal its prey?
Whatever the case that was such a turn of speed!
Stay safe,
Nils
Hi Nils,
I didn’t think about the “stealing the sharks prey” angle. That’s a possibility.
thanks,
scott
holy shit. i didn’t know that was you! ho good thing your foot was in the kayak. god musta been fishing with you. glad you safe. you need a bigger boat.
Hey Deano,
Will this affect the way you SUP and surf?
-scott
not going out in that area for sure. joel told me his in-laws uncle commercial fishes that area frequently. said there are a couple big boys that own the neighborhood. next time bring omiyage!
I should have given ’em the roi. Let em choke on ciguatera.
maybe bring poi and lomi. did that shark actually make noises as it was trying to bite you? freakin unreal. and you guys fished longer! big kine balls scotty!
Oh the sound you hear in slo mo may be me yelling! It didn’t make any noise at all. In hindsight was dumb we kept on fishing! But if we hadn’t we wouldn’t have seen the wounded seal.
Your video is literally everywhere online now, and you should (or maybe, shouldn’t lol) read some of the asinine comments on them. Every armchair shark expert is coming out of the woodwork to opine on what you should or shouldn’t have done! i bet most of never dipped their toe in the ocean, let alone Hawaiians waters. Such is the nature of the internet, eh? Anyway, again, glad you’re safe, and hope you can monetize the crap out of this, cause there are lot of others trying to!
Thank you Jason. I’ve tried to thank those that left meaningful comments on my YT video or IG post and have tried to just ignore the asinine comments.
I am trying to work with the biologists now to better understand why this event occured. I probably won’t do any more interviews except for science related ones.
i like that idea!
Ugh. I just swallowed my tongue. I live on the bay and go out in my inflatable to spend time studying green sea turtles and collect data on coral, because I’m too lazy to carry the hard kayak out. Won’t be doing that anymore. I’ve only ever seen hammerheads. This guy is too close to home. Glad you are ok.., thanks for sharing. Continue being safe and wary. We are so lucky to live in paradise!
Yup, many of my kayak fishing friends have had their kayaks and rudders “test bitten” by tiger sharks.
That wouldn’t go well on an inflatable. Be safe and have fun out there.
-scott