On July 15, we shared this incredible clip of a great white shark cruising just outside of a lineup while an unsuspecting surfer paddles nearby. For obvious reasons, the clip blew up.
“Beautiful,” serial surf vlogger Koa Smith commented after we shared the footage. Videographer Dustin Pitzer was flying his drone over a mostly-empty lineup in Carpinteria, Calif. when he spotted the juvenile shark.
“This guy had no idea there was one right next to him. I talked to him after and he thought I was filming some footage of him,” Pitzer later told The Inertia.
“How many times has this happened before?” asked Southern California photographer Steve Cummings on the same post.
“I think most people grow up with the perception of sharks as mindless monsters,” says Ocean Ramsey, which acknowledges the somewhat misleading sentiments of a viral shark encounter, where the comments on any given social post on any given platform convey fear. “Oftentimes people will express concern if they have a cut on their finger, they think that a shark’s gonna swim by if they go swimming. And there (are) all these misconceptions because of the way (sharks are) portrayed in traditional media. I hope to inspire a shift from fear to fascination.”
Editor’s Note: Learn how to minimize chances of an adverse shark encounter as well as essential information about shark behavior, shark personalities, shark language, what to do if a shark bites you, and more during 20-plus video lessons in Ocean Ramsey’s Guide to Sharks and Safety.
