Great White Shark Splashes Longboard Surfer Off Pismo Beach on Video

A large shark swam toward surfers off Pismo Beach, California, then turned away and splashed a man on a longboard, LifeZette reports, citing video shared with FOX Weather. The person who filmed the Oct. 28 encounter identified the animal as a great white.

Key points

• The encounter: The footage shows the shark heading straight for the surfer before abruptly changing direction, throwing water over him and swimming back out to sea.
• Size and habitat: Citing NOAA, the report says great whites can grow to about 20 feet, weigh more than 4,000 pounds and prefer water between 50 and 80 degrees. Their Pacific range runs from Alaska to Mexico.
• Local presence: Pismo Beach's tourism website lists great whites among the shark species found in the area.
• Earlier sighting: A little more than a week before, a great white was filmed leaping fully out of the water near Marina, California, and a beach advisory was issued.
• Bite record: California's Department of Fish and Wildlife counts fewer than 250 shark bites in the state since 1950.

Quick take

The outlet notes that despite the close call, documented shark bites are rare in California. It cites the research nonprofit OCEARCH, which says the odds of being hit by lightning are higher than the odds of a shark bite. Great whites also live in the Atlantic, along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Gulf and the Caribbean, according to the report.

Read the full story at LifeZette.