We were looking back through the archives when we came across this old footage of two Great Whites going over-under on a teenager, and I simply had to share it again. It looks like a scene out of Gladiator, Any Given Sunday, or a particularly primal rugby match — it practically goes into slow motion without any technological tampering as your brain begins to realize what exactly you’re watching.
To remind you: then 15-year-old Shannon Ainslie and his brother took to Nahoon Reef in East London, South Africa for a run-of-the-mill surf session only to come back (fortunately more or less in tact) with the most unbelievable real-life wildlife footage I have ever seen. Basically, two 15-foot Great Whites attacked Ainslie while he was on the wave, as demonstrated by the Travel Channel above.
You have to love it when the Travel Channel produces these segments that in my humble opinion more or less discourage travel. But I figure shock value does have its intrigue. The network goes so far as to put together a graphic rendering where they explain that the first shark basically took hold of Shannon’s arm only to be knocked off by a second one going for the man’s noggin.
I never expected to hear “just in the nick of time” and “a second shark comes in from the right and goes for Shannon’s head” one after another in the same sentence, but I suppose I never expected to see two Great Whites go over-under on a teenager either. As lucky as Shannon was — 30 stitches and a reattached finger is toeing the line of downright blessed — he was victim to what has been reported as the only double Great White attack ever caught on camera…
Did Ainslie ever get back in the water? Yep. And he told Surf Channel about his first time out after the attack:
“The first time I got back into the water was about six weeks after my shark attack. I surfed a spot about 45 minutes northeast of where I had previously been attacked, far from Nahoon Reef so I felt a bit safer and more comfortable. I managed to surf for thirty minutes, pretty scared and nervous.
“Ripley’s Believe it or Not actually filmed the very first surf I had after my shark attack, and my brother was there with some of his friends. My best friend also surfed with me, so it was quite a cool day.”
Two Great Whites going over-under on a teenager? A killer dropkicking a sea lion 20 feet in the air? Damn nature — you really are scary!
