A filmmaker documenting white sharks off the Southern California coast got the scare of his life when one of the predators suddenly lunged at his equipment and bit down on a camera trailing behind his kayak.
Carlos Gauna, a Southern California-based cinematographer and marine wildlife filmmaker, who goes by The Malibu Artist on YouTube, captured the jaw-dropping encounter while kayaking off the California coast in late April.
Drone footage from the excursion shows the shark surging toward a tail-mounted camera before clamping its jaws around the device and violently shaking it side to side.
‘I looked back and there was that dark shadow of a shark near my camera,’ Gauna told the Daily Mail. ‘And then it just bit the camera. It just put it in its mouth and took it and I felt the tug on the kayak. It was pretty wild.’
Gauna said he was communicating with his friend Eric, who was tracking the shark from above using a drone, when the pair suddenly lost contact moments before the encounter.
The shark cracked the thick acrylic housing protecting the camera, though the footage itself survived.
‘I thought I’d find a tooth in it, but unfortunately no tooth in it,’ Gauna said.
He explained that while sharks often investigate his equipment out of curiosity, this encounter was different.
A great white shark lunged toward a camera trailing behind filmmaker Carlos Gauna’s kayak during a close encounter off the Southern California coast.
Gauna said it was the first time a shark had ever made contact with his equipment
‘I’ve had them follow my camera for minutes on end,’ he said. ‘Touching it with their nose and just going by. But this was really the first time I’ve had it go after the tow cam and put it in its mouth.’
Gauna believes the shark may have been drawn to electromagnetic signals emitted by the camera equipment.
‘That’s one of their superpowers,’ he said of the animals’ ability to detect electrical signals.
The filmmaker said conditions in the water that day were unusually active, with bait fish, sea lions and blood in the water creating what he described as a ‘very active shark environment.’
Earlier in the outing, Gauna and his friend watched sea lions hunting what he later identified as an angel shark before nearby sharks began circling the area.
‘There was blood in the water,’ he said. ‘All the elements combined to make a very, very active shark environment.’
Despite the frightening encounter, Gauna stressed that attacks on humans remain rare and said the juvenile shark was likely acting out of curiosity rather than aggression.
‘They will 99 percent of the time not want anything to do with us,’ he said of white sharks.
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Drone footage from the excursion shows the shark surging toward a tail-mounted camera trailing behind Gauna’s kayak before clamping its jaws around the device
The shark did not take the camera away entirely, though the protective dome surrounding the equipment was severely damaged
Gauna said the shark involved in the encounter appeared to be measuring around seven to eight feet long.
‘When you have a 17-footer next to your kayak, it’s a whole different story,’ he said. ‘But a shark like that is really just curious.’
Great white sharks are commonly spotted off the Southern California coastline, particularly during warmer months and periods of heavy feeding activity when bait fish gather near shore, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Despite public fears, shark attacks remain rare in California waters. According to the California Academy of Sciences, there have been only 99 unprovoked shark attacks in the state’s recorded history, resulting in nine fatalities, with nearly all involving great white sharks.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has also said shark incidents involving humans are ‘extremely rare’ and average fewer than three reported incidents annually statewide, with less than two resulting in injuries.
Gauna said he hopes viewers walk away from the footage with a greater understanding of shark behavior and ocean safety.
‘If you’re going to get in the water and you notice a lot of surface activities, you see bait balls, you see birds diving nearby, you see sea lions, even dolphins, those are all indicators that there’s a lot of prey availability,’ he said.
‘Just know that when you step into the ocean, you’re stepping into their home.’
