Ok, so I went to Hilton Head Island for a quick vacation.   I was going to rent a jet-ski, but they were all reserved   So, I figure, what the hell, and rent a kayak instead.  I take off from harbor town and make it about 1/4 mile and a storm rolls in from out of nowhere   I saw lightning so I beached on a wildlife preserve as it was the closest land.   Stepped on a crab, got pinched   So, finally the lightning rolls out and I figure I should get back.  OK, I'm paddling away and I notice something off to my left.   I look over to see a fin, maybe 15 feet away    I study it a little more closely because I've been told that there are dolphins everywhere around HHI.   Slowly I realize it is not a dolphin   I swear to god I was passing boats I paddled so hard   Anyways, if anyone knows anything about the shark life around HHI:  It was probably a little shy of 8ft in length and the dorsal fin had a black tip  the tail fin barely crested the water and had obviously been injured.

Was it a black tipped shark?

Shark attacks are caused by mistaken identity, we actually are pretty safe from most of the sharks which inhabit coastal shallow water areas.

If you go dive in the keys you'll get used to random shark encounters.

kayaking is soooo much fun

+1 on the black tip

they range up and down the coast.   We have tons of them around here.  Great for fishing.    But they wont really harm you unless you are in brackish waters or surronded by bait fish.  in a kayak i think you were safe .

sharks can be curious of kayaks and come close to check them out... dolphins too, altho its alot less nerve-racking to be surrounded by a pod of dolphins than a school of sharks.

I fish for sharks out of my kayak down on the gulf coast, but I usually only catch Atlantic Sharpnose sharks, which only get 3-4 feet.  If I ever see one that big, I'd be nervous too

I have paddled so close to dolphins that I could hear clicks and whisles and even made eye contact with a mother and a calf that swam within 3-4 feet.  Amazing animals.  Kayaking is great

Yeah, that looks like it.   
I love dolphins, they are amazing animals,  A whole pod came up to the beach the first day I was there.

Stupid shark just scared the hell out of me   A part of me knew I wasn't in any immediate danger, but it still wasn't very comforting.

check out this pic... its real, no photoshop either
http://www.whitesharktrust.org/media/newsmedia2/africageographic200509p4243.jpg

A friend of mine got to swim with dolphins when he was in Hawaii. He swears that one of them hit him with the sonar (echolocation) and he said it was weirdest feeling ever. He said it felt like he was paralyzed for a couple seconds. 

Jake

cool.  I don't doubt that.  When I heard the dolphins clicking, it was very strange because the while dolphins where on both sides of the kayak, I didn't hear the noises coming from them directly, it sounded as if the noises were coming from the bottom of the hull of my kayak, underneath my seat and between my legs.  It made me realize how strong these noises carry underwater.

[censor] dude, I would totally [censor] my pants if I saw a [censor] shark swiming at me...  [censor] [censor], that would suck...

Wow, RV not trying to prove a point or anything, huh??      Ehhh, sharks are essentially bullies, they don't pick on things bigger than them, and I was a fair amount larger with the kayak.

wth is a censor shark? 

umm, anyone happen to notice that picture has a big line going RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE and the waves don't match up, neither does that land. maybe he was being followed but i doubt that closely.

Quote from: ledfingers on July 28, 2007, 12:29:25 AM
umm, anyone happen to notice that picture has a big line going RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE and the waves don't match up, neither does that land. maybe he was being followed but i doubt that closely.

It's a scan of a full spread in a magazine.

uh terry don't do that, we used to have to save guys like you every once in a while.  btw i dove hundreds of times with sharks around while in the navy and NEVER have i been in fear or danger from them.  very misunderstood animals.  i had more problems with sea turtles, jelly fish and seals than sharks.

Don't do what?

I know that 99% of the time sharks are not a danger.  Just freaked me out, it was the first time I'd seen one in the wild   and he was a biggun

Barracuda freaked me out much worse than my first shark encounter. Had a Dolphin that haud swum partway up stream by Wekiwa Fl. when I was there to go snorkel in the springs with the Manatee. That scared the shaZam! outta me as he buzzed past me headed back downstream at highspeed.

The only Barracuda I care to be around has a Hemi in it   Those bastards are just straight up aggressive    

don't get in trouble in the open water.   the first time i saw a tiger shark in Hawaii while diving i almost spit out my reg, but then i just got used to them.  sea lions are huge as well as whales, but you get used to it.

Ughh ... you said "jellyfish"  I had one just barely brush me in the gulf when i was 12-13 or so ... OMFG , i can still feel it 20 years later - it was like a burn , but swollen also ...
#$%$ jellyfish , i think i'd have rather been bitten