It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand how and why foiling can be infinitely more dangerous than traditional surf craft. The carbon fiber mast and wing of an errant board can do serious damage to oneself or fellow surfers – look no further than what Japanese surfer Yu Tonbi Sumitomo did to his own face several years ago.
But so too can foiling be a hazard to unassuming wildlife.
During some recent training for the 2019 Pan Am Games, Dominican Republic kiteboarder Alex Soto was kite foiling off the coast, humming along, when his foil collided with a shark.
He captured the whole ordeal via his GoPro and posted it to Facebook saying, “My little tragic crash. We are invading their habitat. Do not be surprised if you see any.”
Based on the video alone, it appears Soto is traveling at a pretty decent clip when he makes contact with the shark. According to his post, though, the shark survived the crash. “Yes the shark is alive,” wrote Soto on his own post.
Soto’s explanation as to how he knows the shark is alright, though, is admittedly unscientific. “I saw the shark leaving and I checked in the video. I didn’t hit the shark in the head,” he wrote.
Some rogue Facebook commenters, however, didn’t buy it. “That shark is super dead. Let’s be real,” wrote Jim Keithman.
Soto did explain that the foil and board were both damaged in the crash.
