As the fog lifts from Rio del Mar beach, the sun’s warmth permeates, convincing Ryan Mackey and me to paddle out at Platform’s, despite the uninspiring surf conditions. We enjoy the beautiful weather and clear water as we surf small, inconsistent wind-waves close to shore.
While waiting for a set, a dark, large object in the water catches my peripherals. There, within eight feet of me, placed still in the water, the ocean’s most infamous predatory fish — a great white shark.
The clarity of the water allows me to see its gills, the speckled skin going from dark to light, and its sheer size, which looks about 10-12 feet long. Fear penetrates my bones, heightened from all the shark-week programs and cheesy TV dramatizations that hype the great white as vicious and bloodthirsty…. Details