Shark attacks woman on kayak at Catalina, knocks her off in front of her kids
Andrew Pereira Monday recounted his wife Bettina’s unbelievable great white shark encounter Saturday morning off Catalina.
The Huntington Beach couple – along with their three kids – had
taken their 50-foot boat to the island for an annual fishing
tournament, and as always, Bettina dropped her kayak into the water to
paddle around a bit. They were on the backside of the island at Eagle Rock, and Bettina was
about 500 feet from the shore in 200-foot deep waters when she felt a
knock on her kayak. At first she thought it was another boat or a whale - but then she looked in the water and saw the dorsal fin come out. “It comes right under the kayak, threw her in the air, threw the kayak
in the air,” Andrew said. “When she landed, she landed on the back of
the shark, on her two feet. It was incredible. Bettina screamed for help. The shark heads in one direction, and she jumps off in the other direction. Andrew didn’t see the initial bump, but looked over when their 14-year-old son Andrew said “mom fell off the kayak.” That’s strange, Andrew thought. In the 12 years she’s been out in the
waters kayaking, she’s never fallen off. Then, in a split second, young
Andrew yells: Oh my God, there’s a shark after her! “It seemed like a long time, but it all happened so quick,” he said. Bettina is currently on the boat resting, her body sore from the attack. Andrew is handling media calls so she can rest. “I’ve never had any fear of having her in a kayak. There was nothing I
could do,” he said. Their boat, Bettina Lee, was anchored and they
couldn’t get to her. Fortunately, there were two small boats nearby that rushed over to her within 20 seconds. The boat “Topless” picked her up out of the water. Andrew thinks the shark took a bite out of the kayak during the scuffle, and didn’t like what he bit into. When asked if this will keep him and his family out of the water,
Andrew said they love the water and changing their lifestyle wouldn’t
be easy. “You can’t live your life being fearful of something like that
happening,” he said. “My wife, I’m sure it will be a long time before
she gets on the kayak.”
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