We're not sure what's worse: Playing in the ocean and not knowing what scary things lurk beneath or playing in the ocean while being totally aware of the scary things that lurk beneath.
Luckily, one surfer got the best of both options.
While stand-up paddleboarder Wayne Seligson was surfing with a group of friends at Manhattan Beach, California, he unknowingly dropped in on a very toothy creature that was looming below. Photographer Bo Bridges was recording the surf session with a camera-equipped drone, as seen in the video above, when he noticed multiple silhouettes swimming close to the surfers from his handheld live monitor while standing on the beach.
"[Seligson] thought I was going to follow him down the wave [with the camera]," Bridges told HuffPost. "I was actually tracking the shark, not him. He was completely oblivious to the shark and the fact that he was about to run over it. He [didn't know] until I showed him the footage."
Bridges, who owns an art gallery down the street from the nearby Manhattan Beach pier, believes the shadowy figures were juvenile great white sharks and said that they've spotted them in the area many times in the past 16 months. In fact, just about one week after the video was recorded, swimmer Steve Robles was bitten by a shark that was caught in fishing line at the pier, not far from the beach Seligson and his crew were surfing.
But don't let Bridges' shark sighting add to your irrational fear of sharks. With underwater cameras and camera-clad drones seeming to take their place as a necessity for the everyday ocean adventurer, maybe it's time humans realize the ocean isn't ours for the taking and should start respecting its apex predators a whole lot more.
"[It's] so spooky," Bridges said, "but it makes you wonder how many other surfers have [surfed over sharks] and not realized it. These juveniles don't seem to be a threat on a day-to-day basis, but they are a quick reminder of who rules the ocean."
Here's a hint: it's definitely not us.
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