A paddleboarder in Florida was followed by a hammerhead shark more than 35 miles off the coast of Palm Beach County.
Malea Tribble told FOX 35 that at first she just dismissed the “taps” on her paddleboard until her husband, who was in a nearby boat, spotted the shark trailing her.
“Based on his reaction, I knew immediately that it was a shark,” Tribble, who said she was about 30 feet from the boat when the shark was spotted, told FOX 35. “I didn’t know how big or where exactly it was.”
According to a post on Instagram:
A rare sighting of a Great Hammerhead during this year’s 10 year anniversary of The Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis event! Malea Tribble of Ft. Lauderdale Florida, a three-time participant and two-time paddler in The Crossing event, was surprised by a curious and friendly visitor, while paddling from the Bahamas to Florida in the annual fundraiser for the CF community.
Malea’s husband Ricky, who was on the boat at the time, and her relay partner paddling with her in the event, was the first to spot the tall dorsal fin as it rose up behind Malea on her board. Their team was almost halfway across the Gulf Stream, out of sight of land, when the shark appeared. Ricky was able to calmly give his wife direction on maneuvering the situation to get safely to the boat without incident. Both Ricky and Malea are experienced paddlers and official mentors with The Crossing For CF community.
View this post on Instagram
