Marine biologist Giancarlo Thomae had a close encounter – of the shark variety – on Monterey Bay on Tuesday. And he was thrilled about it.
Thomae had been paddling his kayak on Tuesday as he came across and photographed four great white sharks close to the shore of Seacliff State Beach in Aptos.
Instead of panicking, Thomae remained cool and collected, even whipping out his camera to document his discovery.
"It was pretty gnarly. I was out there hoping to see them." Thomae adds, "I was more nervous about getting my camera wet."
That’s because Thomae was filming the entire affair from his boat. He posted the video on YouTube and that's giving him his 15 minutes and then some.
Thomae, a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz, didn’t just randomly stumble on a pack of flesh-eating sharks. He’s a marine biologist for Sanctuary Cruises Whale Watching at Moss Landing, California. He’s also a photographer. So, this find was a big bonus for him.
Tuesday’s adventure wasn’t Thomae’s only shark sighting in the recent past. Last week, when he was kayaking about in the same general area, he saw a group of sharks at sea level, but realized that he could see more if he had a bird’s-eye view. Lucky for him, his buddy owns a helicopter. The two hopped in the chopper and from the sky counted 14 great white sharks during that sighting.
"I’d never seen anything like it," he said, noting that it’s more typical to see just one or two at a time.
As for being scared to be so close to the pack of killer fish, Thomae feels quite the opposite. For him, the appearance of so many sharks means the ocean is healthy and the species is hopefully increasing in numbers.
