Dramatic moment kayaker in La Palma bravely fights off massive shark in tourist hotspot

This is the dramatic moment a brave kayaker uses a paddle to ward off a menacing shark while on the island of La Palma in the Canaries.

The local was forced to act after seeing the shark start to circle him and come near his kayak while he enjoyed a day out. The shark was identified as a hammerhead, the same type most experts believe could have been responsible for attacking a German woman last Monday on a British-flagged catarman who died as she was airlifted to a hospital in Gran Canaria.

The latest incident occurred off the coast of Tazacorte, a town and municipality in the western part of the island of La Palma which is regarded as the most scenically spectacular of the Canary Islands.

The sportsman at the centre of the drama could be overheard telling the shark: ‘Bas##rd, get away’ as he tried to hit it with his oar as its tell-tale fin got nearer and nearer and he became concerned it would try to over topple his kayak.

Social media users tried to play down the incident by insisting hammerhead sharks are normally not aggressive towards humans, even though the species has been linked to last Monday’s incident involving a 30-year-old German traveling on a pleasure craft called Dalliance Chichester.

She suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on a Spanish Air Force helicopter taking her to hospital after having her leg bitten off.
The incident occurred as the catamaran was in international waters 278 miles south-west of Gran Canaria’s airport and around 110 miles east of the city of Dakhla in the disputed territory of Western Sahara which is currently occupied by Morocco.

The unnamed victim was pronounced dead on arrival at Doctor Negrin Hospital in the Gran Canaria capital Las Palmas just after 11pm on Monday night.

A routine probe has been opened by a court in the city. Court sources confirmed it was being treated as an accident but witnesses had not been called to give evidence, with one saying: “Proceedings have been opened as happens with any accidental death. No-one has yet been questioned and there are no immediate plans to question anyone.”

Initial reports pointed to the victim swimming in the ocean at the time although a Gran Canaria daily later reported she had been fishing with meat as bait and had one leg in the water.

In June holiday beaches on Gran Canaria’s east coast were closed following shark sightings. Local police subsequently confirmed through a drone sighting one of the sharks spotted was a 10ft-long hammerhead.

Most hammerhead species are indeed considered harmless to humans and few attacks have been recorded, but they are aggressive hunters and their size and fierceness make them potentially harmless.

They can grow up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Experts analysing last Monday’s fatal shark attack have ruled out the possibility it could be a tintorera or blue shark which are spotted every summer off mainland Spanish beaches.

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