Teen Spearfisherman Charged by Great White Shark in California
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.15.15
Kainoa Risko had never expected to come face-to-face with a 10-foot great white shark, and when he did last month off the shore of San Clemente, California, he was in a terrible predicament. The 17-year-old’s only weapon was a speargun, and he only had one shot.
“I just went into survival mode and just kept poking at it with my speargun,” he told The Orange County Register. “I figured I would just keep poking it, but once I shoot, I’m going to lose my gun and I’ll have no protection.”
The incident happened on November 21 when he was spearfishing with his father Tai Risko and older brother Tai Jr. in what he had described as crystal-clear water. Everything had gone well up to that point. The divers arrived at a kelp forest and speared five fish, including a big sheepshead and a sand bass. All three of the men were experienced sportsmen—despite his young age, Kainoa is already a noted competitor in the speargun world and is sponsored by dive gear manufacturer Riffe International. The divers knew their what they were doing, but a simple mistake led to a terrifying experience. At some point during the hunt, Kainoa decided to dive deeper into the kelp forest and leave his family behind.
“When I surfaced I looked down and all the fish were gone,” he wrote on his bio for Riffe. “I got a chill down my spine and I started to cover myself in kelp in hopes that I would blend in more when all of a sudden this 10 ft great white swims right underneath me and is swimming in the direction of my brother and father.”
What they later believed to have happened was that the fish bags, which float away from the spearfishermen to prevent predatory attacks as they swim, had come too close to the teen and attracted the shark. Kainoa Risko said the shark then turned around and made a run for him, which he dissuaded by poking it in the nose with his speargun. It came close to the diver two more times that day and earned two more pokes for its trouble.
“I was more scared in that situation for my brother and father than for myself because they were the ones with all the dead fish,” Risko wrote.
The last poke was enough to discourage the shark for good, allowing Risko to warn his father and brother of the shark’s presence. The three men notified lifeguards regarding the shark and the beach was closed down for the rest of the day.
Risko said the lesson from the encounter is that he will endeavor to stay with his family from now on, and away from the fish bags.
