Shocking footage has captured the terrifying moment a tiger shark rammed into a man's kayak after 'mistaking it for prey'.
The local fisherman, Scott Haraguchi, found himself in a bone-chilling encounter that could have been straight out of Jaws after a tiger shark charged towards his kayak just off the coast of Hawaii.
Luckily for Haraguchi, his quick thinking and speedy reflexes allowed him to get out of the situation completely unscathed.
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The footage was uploaded to YouTube yesterday (14 May) by the channel Hawaii Nearshore Fishing, and has since clocked up more than 50,000 views.
In the video, the man who lived to tell the terrifying tale can be heard screaming: "Tiger shark! Tiger shark rammed me!"
He then explained a little more about the incident in the bio of the short clip.
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Haraguchi told his subscribers the ordeal took place last Friday (12 May) on the 'Windward side of O'ahu' which is part of the Hawaiian island chain and also home to the state capital, Honolulu.
According to the kayaker, he was just '55ft' and 'less than two miles from shore' when the apex predator appeared.
He wrote: "Heard a 'whooshing' sound, looked up and saw a wide brown thing on the side of the kayak. Thought it was a turtle at first. Happened so fast."
The man also revealed he 'didn't realise' it at the time but he took his left foot out of the water to brace himself from impact and 'actually pushed the shark's head off with it'.
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Now that's what I call a real-life man versus beast situation.
According to KITV4, Haraguchi was not sure what 'prompted' the encounter but said he noticed 'what appeared to be a wounded seal' shortly after the incident took place.
"He believes the shark may have mistaken his kayak for its wounded prey," the outlet reports.
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Haraguchi continued: "If you asked me to do that again, even without the shark, I don't think I'd have that flexibility. I actually only thought the shark rammed the kayak until I saw the video at home."
The video has since received dozens of comments from viewers left in total shock by the footage.
One YouTube user wrote: "That’s insane! Happy that you’re safe!"
A second commented: "I'm so glad that you are okay. I literally screamed when it attacked you. I probably would have passed out and my body found somewhere in the deep blue."
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"Amazing how fast that attack was initiated. No time to do anything but panic. Glad you were ok," echoed a third.
Talk about a close shave.
Topics: Animals, US News, World News, YouTube, Sharks
Rhiannon Ingle