Watch Santa Barbara Foil Surfers Encounter a Shark in This Video

Potential Mako Shark Spotted Off Santa Barbara Coast

In a striking encounter over the weekend, two foil surfers captured video of what appears to be a shark’s dorsal fin cutting through the water near Santa Barbara. Marine biologist experts are suggesting it could be a mako shark.

Friends Tavis Boise and Ron Takeda were maneuvering their foil boards—surfboards equipped with an underwater wing that elevates them above the surface—as they traveled from UC Santa Barbara to Carpinteria. Their adventure took an unexpected turn when Takeda heard a noise and saw a fin trailing behind him.

"I heard the noise. I looked back. I saw trailing white water," Takeda recounted. The moment was recorded on a GoPro attached to Boise’s paddle. In the video, Takeda questions, "Is that a shark?" to which Boise replies, "Yeah, don’t fall."

Boise further described the scene, stating, "I look back, and I can clearly see there is a main dorsal fin right behind him," adding, "And then there’s the tail fin, which is switching back, back and forth in the water, kind of thrashing to keep up with them. And it’s an immediate click. I know it’s a shark."

While the exact nature of the fin remains uncertain, a marine biologist indicated to NBCLA that it appears to be a mako shark pursuing Takeda. Another marine wildlife expert remarked that he had never witnessed a white shark exhibiting such behavior for an extended period.

"I knew I had to concentrate not to come off foil. I kept my head down and completely stayed on foil," Takeda noted, managing to maintain his balance as the potential predator followed. Eventually, whatever was behind him seemed to lose interest, allowing Boise to catch up. "I ended up catching up to Ron maybe two miles later," Boise recalled. When he reached Takeda, his first words were, "Wow, it’s really good out here."

In the face of skepticism surrounding their experience, the duo later posted a follow-up video confirming the authenticity of their encounter, stating, "It was not AI," with Takeda adding, "We don’t even know anything about AI… I wish it was AI."