Two surfers had a close encounter with a shark at a Cape Cod beach on Saturday.
"Yesterday on November 4th 2023 at about noon my cousin Pete Emond and I were surfing by ourselves over in front of the vip house at Coast Guard beach. Pete was sitting on his board and I was standing on mine when I looked over my shoulder and a 10’ Great white Shark was on track right at Pete’s legs." wrote one of the surfers, Ray Trautz, on his Facebook account.
"The shark even turned on its side as if to take a leg , in that moment I yelled SHAARRRRK as Pete was still unaware. As I yelled I stabbed my paddle into the water at the back of the shark and it violently turned at me, tail and head thrashing back and forth erupting the water," the post continued
They were able to escape the shark after calling for his attention and being carried by a small wave into shore, Trautz said.
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Thankfully, both surfers were back on dry land unharmed, but Trautz said they were "a little shaken."
"I’ve seen a hundred white sharks while surfing but this takes the top of all my shark interactions," he concluded.
The shark sighting was noted on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity app, and the group shared Trautz' story on Facebook as well.
The number of white sharks off Cape Cod typically peaks between September and October, conservancy researchers say. The area has recently become a world hot spot for the apex predators.
