Imagine you are surfing the waves at the famous Nahoon Reef on the East coast of South Africa near East London. The surf at Nahoon Reef is legendary as is the swimming at Nahoon Beach, which is merely a stone’s throw away. The uncrowded pristine sands of Nahoon Beach stretch on for kilometer after kilometer, and the sea at Nahoon is clear and unpolluted. This is an ocean paradise for both swimmer and surfer alike, and the remarkable waves at Nahoon Reef are so exhilarating and challenging that top surfers flock here to ride the waves.
Suddenly, two great white sharks attack you simultaneously. The attacks are so coordinated that you are convinced that the sharks are working together because how could such an attack be just coincidence?
You believe that the sharks are attracted to the shiny dark color of your wet suit, which may make you appear like a seal to the sharks. Great whites often come to Nahoon Reef to dine on sardines and seals, so today you are merely one more meal for the sharks.
The first shark knocks you off your surfboard and into the air. As you splash back into the surf, the same shark bites into your right hand pulling you under the surf toward the bottom of the ocean floor. Ocean predators, such as great whites and killer whales, often use this tactic on seals to drown them.
Meanwhile the second shark makes a move for your head and shoulders. The sharks’ movements appear so choreographed that you cannot believe that this attack is really two separate independent assaults rather than a planned gang attack. Only the sharks know for sure and, naturally, they aren’t talking.
Of course this attack never happened to you, but it did happen to Shannon Ainslie, who often surfs Nahoon Reef with his brother Brandon.
Watch the video to learn how Shannon survived this remarkable exploit:
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