Scott Haraguchi was calmly fishing aboard his small kayak-type boat off the coast of Windward Oahu, in Hawaii (United States), when he saw a shadow in the water that seemed to him to be a large turtle. Suddenly, the blob changed into a tiger shark, swooping in with jaws open, reaching for the fragile deck.
Apart from swearing, Haraguchi instinctively responded to the attack by lifting his left foot out of the water, which dangled calmly as he fished. According to his version, he came to touch the shark's snout, a situation that could have even cost him his life in an unequal confrontation.
Scott Haraguchi's adventure occurred on Saturday May 13 and could easily go down the list of unconfirmed stories if it weren't for the fact that his boat is equipped with an automatic camera, in whose memory the scene has been recorded in considerable detail.
Haraguchi has explained it and documented it with audience success in his own posts on social media like Instagram @hawaiinearshorefishing.
"(I) didn't realize that I lifted my left foot out of the water to protect myself from the impact and actually pushed the shark's head off with it," he said.
"If you asked me to do that again, even without the shark, I don't think I would have that flexibility and quickness."
The surprised fisherman explained that some acquaintances had told him that the coast guard reported the presence in the area of an injured seal, which was possibly the real prey of the shark.
"I think the shark may have injured the seal, and was waiting for it to die, and it came back and mistook me for the seal."
According to figures from Hawaii's Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), there have been four shark attacks off the island's coast so far in 2023.
In April, a 58-year-old man was attacked and seriously injured while surfing off the coast near the island's capital, Honolulu.
There were also two attacks on the same day in March involving beachgoers at Anaehoomalu and Papohaku Beach.
In February, a person on an inflatable paddle board near Kihei saw part of the board bitten by a shark. In 2022, eight attacks with similar characteristics were registered.
