‘Jaws’ Comes to Life : Great White Shark Rams Fishing Boat Off Island Waters

The two dozen people on board the boat stood slack-jawed as they watched what they described as a 22-foot-long, 2,000-pound great white shark circle their fishing vessel near Santa Cruz Island.

Suddenly, the shark rammed the side of the 65-foot sport fishing boat, hitting the hull so hard that it’s blue paint could be seen on the shark’s nose. On another pass, the shark rose out of the water to show rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“It looked right up at us with its big black eye,” said Steve Scheingart, who chartered the boat, the Seabiscuit, for a fishing trip Sunday. “Everyone was totally enthralled. We were right up on the rail, and yet scared silly that we would fall in.”

Louie Abbott, the boat’s captain, said he was “really spooked.”

“I’ve seen sharks before, but nothing like this,” Abbott said. “He circled us about 15 times and was so close you could have reached over and touched him.”

“It was right out of the movie ‘Jaws.’ This was a once in a lifetime encounter.”

The incident began when a deckhand spotted commotion in the water as the boat was heading back from Santa Cruz Island about 11:30 a.m. Sunday. On the fishing trip were 24 men and women, employees of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California.

As the boat approached, the shark shot out of the water to take a bite out of an injured sea lion.

“It was vicious,” Abbott said of the attack.

When the boat moved within about 20 feet, the shark abandoned the bloodied remains of the sea lion, and began to circle the fishing vessel. Three times the animal approached and nudged the boat. At one point it rolled on its side, lifted its head out of the water and flashed its jagged teeth to the startled fishermen.

Those on board held tight to the railings. “Our knuckles turned white,” said Michael Goodman, a Sunland resident who was on the trip.

Goodman and others on board said they believed the shark rammed the boat because they moved too close to its feeding area.

“He spotted us, swam directly at us, and rammed us to try and get us out of his territory,” Goodman said. “There must be some unwritten rule of the sea that you’re supposed to stay away from a shark’s circle.”

Great white sharks are very rare in the waters around the Channel Islands, according to John Cox, who works in the marine biology office of Channel Islands National Park.

Cox said that the warm currents have brought an abundance of large fish to local waters, and may be responsible for the shark’s presence.

The fishermen on the boat estimated the animal was about 22 feet long, 4 feet wide and about 2,000 pounds.

Abbott said he was able to gauge the shark’s size because as it crossed the boat’s 19-foot stern he could see the head and the tail on either side.

“This thing was immense,” Goodman said. “It was just an awesome sight.”