This was one hungry shark.
Danny McDaniel has a large shark tattoo on his chest, but the California resident nearly got tattooed by a great white shark while kayaking off Catalina Island, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The shark chomped down so hard on the diver's kayak, it left two teeth embedded in the vessel, the newspaper reported.
McDaniel and his friend, Jon Chambers, were kayaking near Ship Rock, about 2 miles east of Catalina Island, when he felt something hit his vessel, KSWB reported.
"(I) felt (a) push to the left, looked to (the) right, (and there was a) giant great white shark a foot from my boot," McDaniel told KGTV. "His upper half of body was out of the water, his dorsal fin was out of the water."
Both men said they were "literally frozen" as the shark hung onto the kayak for about five seconds, the television station reported.
"I don't think he took a full chomp," McDaniel told KGTV. "I think he just took a nibble and pushed," said McDaniel.
McDaniel told KSWB he "felt like I was being pushed like a toy in the water."
Apparently, the kayak was not to the shark's liking and it swam away, minus two teeth.
"I guess he thought the kayak wasn't tasty and let go," McDaniel told KSWB. "We looked around that the shark was out of the area and then started cracking up and laughing.
"What a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both of us."
About the Author
