"Intense" that’s how Hawaii-born surfer Bobby Gumm remembers his terrifying Great White shark encounter off the Oregon coast Thursday.
"It came right under me, like sideways."
Re-playing the chilling moments as it happened, 41-Year-old Gumm describes what happened next.
"It came under me and swept through my legs. I thought it was a sea lion, so I kicked him a little bit. It went right under me and all of a sudden went ‘woomp’," he says.
Gumm was surfing with friends at South Beach in Newport, Oregon with waves about head high. He was sitting in the line-up when the shark rose out of the water.
"Dorsal fin was about that high," he says showing his hands about 2-feet wide.
With no time to react, Gumm felt the Great White take a huge chunk out of his board.
"Swirls and lifts me off my board, then all of a sudden dips back down, grabs my board and just chucks me out of the water."
Expert Mark Marks says the shark acted out of a natural predatory behavior.
"Shark then turns towards Bobby to check him out and is swimming under him. As soon as Bobby thinks there’s something by him like a seal he stomps down, hits shark, now it’s woken the shark up about what this is on the surface and it’s animated," says Marks, Shark Research Biologist.
From the bite marks on Gumm’s board, Marks is sure the shark was a great white.
"It was 15-16 feet in length and probably in excess of 2,000 pounds," says Marks.
Gumm, still shocked says he is thankful to be alive.
"Just glad to be in one piece," he says. "To see my baby, see my babies and my son that’s what I’m happy for."
Great White sharks aren’t un-common along the Oregon coast. Just last week another surfer claims one knocked him off his board a couple hundred miles away from where Gumm was surfing.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
