A peaceful early-morning paddle in the ocean near East London resulted in a frightening encounter for two 18-year-olds on Monday when their small boat was circled by two sharks, one of which came so close that its tail struck them as it swam away. The couple, Noah Honey and Tessa Waterson from Kwelera, set out before sunrise, hoping to start their day with a calm paddle — unaware that the trip would turn into what Honey described as a frightening experience. “We started our paddle at about 5.30am; our starting point was at Yellow Sands, and we were paddling to the coast of Glengariff.
Shortly before this, adventurous open-ocean swimmer Honey decided to jump into the water for a brief swim during the paddle. I decided to just lie in the water — that is when she spotted a fin behind the boat, and that is when I decided to get back in. “I took a few light stretches underwater.
My girlfriend decided to be playful and paddle away, but I managed to reach her. “I decided to just lie in the water — that is when she spotted a fin behind the boat, and that is when I decided to get back in.” Honey said the first shark disappeared beneath them as he climbed back onboard, unaware that a second shark was also approaching. “The first shark was swimming in front of us, then went underneath our boat, [and] disappeared,” he said.
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“It was the second shark that approached us from behind, where it came on our left-hand side of the boat. “After approaching us very slowly, it came sideways and just swam right next to us, as if it was very curious.” He said they tried to remain calm while the shark moved alongside them.
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