San Clemente Teen Fights Off Great White

A father and his two sons are lucky to be alive today after a run-in with a hungry great white shark just offshore in San Clemente.

As first reported by The Orange County Register, the trio were having a lucky day spear-fishing when their haul attracted the attention of a 9-foot great white. San Clemente resident Tai Risko and his eldest son had already made it to shore when he noticed his youngest son struggling just outside the surf Nov. 21, the newspaper reported.

Related: Increasing Shark Encounters Might Not Be A Fluke

A great white shark charged Kainoa, a San Clemente High School student.

“It turned around and it like swam really fast at me and charged at me,” Kainoa told the Register. “I flipped on my back and watched it,” he said. “It was swimming behind me … just following me. Then it charged me again from behind. I flipped over and poked it again in the nose with my speargun. Then it went out to my left as I was swimming in. It charged me a third time.”

Click here to read the full shark tale in The Orange County Register.

Photo courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department