Huge 13-Foot Hammerhead Shark Stalks Kayakers Off The Florida Coast! [Video]

Just days after the Inquisitr reported about a shark attack in Florida that injured 18-year-old Ryan Shapiro, we now have reports of yet another case from Florida involving a shark. This time however, there was no attack — but chilling footage of the shark menacingly following two kayakers is fast gaining popularity after it was uploaded to YouTube.

According to a report by CBS 12, the huge hammerhead shark, nearly 13-feet long, followed two kayakers for nearly two miles, stalking them and occasionally bumping their flimsy looking boats. The men who had this chilling encounter with the hammerhead shark have been identified as Mark Naumovitz and Brian Nelli. Both are from the Pushin’ Water Fishing Charter, a local kayak fishing charter company. They were in the shallow waters off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida when the shark decided to give them some unwanted company.

According to the men, the shark circled their kayaks over 30 times and followed them both for a considerable amount of time. The scariest moment, however, was when the shark bumped into one of the kayaks. Finally however, the shark lost interest in the two kayaks (and possibly, the kayakers) and went on its own way, leaving the two men relieved.

Mark Naumovitz, later talking to the Sun Sentinel, quipped about the matter.

“It’s not really a huge thing to see sharks. But when you have a dorsal fin trailing you like [it’s] Jaws, it’s a different story.”

“It freaked me out a little,” said Naumovitz’ friend Brian Nelli.

Nelli adds that he had to take utmost caution in order to ensure that he somehow didn’t end up falling into the water. He also filmed the chilling footage of the shark following them using his GoPro camera.

The report adds that both men were out on a fishing trip on Friday. The shark decided to follow them after they had caught their big catch of the day — a 16-pound Mahi. It is now thought that the shark was attracted towards the smell of blood that came from the Mahi and was possibly looking to scavenge a few bites. Like other sharks, hammerhead sharks too have a very keen sense of smell.

According to George Burgess, the International Shark Attack File’s director, based on the size of the shark, it is most likely to be a great hammerhead — the biggest member of the hammerhead shark species.

Naumovitz and Nelli, who are both avid kayakers, did not expect an encounter with the shark on what was an uneventful Friday afternoon. They were, however, worried when towards the end of their kayaking trip, the wind began to pick up and the waters became choppy. The last thing you want while kayaking is a choppy ocean. Adding the shark into the picture didn’t help one bit.

[Image via YouTube]