Great white attacks California surfer, who kicks it away (Los Angeles: live, yard)

[Tulemutt]

From my backyard:

Los Osos, Calif. -- A surfer suffered leg bites but survived a shark attack off California's Central Coast after kicking the massive fish away.
Nick Wapner, 19, was bitten Tuesday morning while surfing with friends off Montana de Oro State Park, the Tribune of San Luis Obispo reported. The area is about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Park Ranger Supervisor Robert Colligan said Wapner reported being attacked by a 15-foot great white shark that clamped down on his right ankle and then up to his left thigh.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/great-w...kicks-it-away/

[Ruth4Truth]

He was incredibly lucky. Once they draw blood, they don't quit, but the surfer may be right, that the shark decided, that amid all the neoprene, and the fiberglass of the board, the shark decided the flesh wasn't worth it.

Very, very lucky.

[JGC97]

I hear punching them in the snout works too. Good for that surfer. He lived to catch another wave soon.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

I hear punching them in the snout works too. Good for that surfer. He lived to catch another wave soon.

I hope he's taking some time out to let those 50 stitches on his leg heal....

[2x3x29x41]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

He was incredibly lucky. Once they draw blood, they don't quit, but the surfer may be right, that the shark decided, that amid all the neoprene, and the fiberglass of the board, the shark decided the flesh wasn't worth it.

Very, very lucky.

This is incorrect.

It is fairly common for great whites to take a single bite of a human, and then decide not to pursue the encounter. Biologists believe that these bites occur when the shark cannot otherwise identify the human and is simply sampling what it sees as a potential meal. Since the human body is foreign to a shark - it neither feels nor tastes like anything on which they normally prey - once the shark has a feel/taste for what it's chomping on, it usually breaks it off. The shark is operating on instinct. It can't 'figure out' that a human, while tasting unfamiliar, might still be food. Basically, its reaction to taking a bite out of a human is the same as if a shark takes a bit out of a float or driftwood or whatnot - the thing doesn't fit its food-profile and it spits it out.

Of course, sometimes the hey-let's-see-what-this-is bite is fatal, but mostly they're not. About three in four people known to have been bitten by a great white shark have survived.

[SunMoonEarth]

That surfer had used up all his luck to the rest of this life