Hammerhead shark crashes Luling family’s vacation

While Mick Fanning dominated the headlines over the past week, Luling’s Bethany Ayuso has a shark tale of her own.

Fanning was attacked by a shark in South Africa Sunday during the final heat of a surfing competition. He escaped with his limbs intact but a damaged surfboard, noting he had to “punch the shark” in the back to scare it away.

Luckily, it didn’t come to that for Ayuso, but for a few moments of her family vacation to Destin, panic surely set in as she, her husband and their 12-year-old son were interrupted during their enjoyment of Henderson State Park Beach.

“We were about 20 feet off shore, in waist and chest high water,” Ayuso said. “Some guys started shouting, “Hey, look at the dolphin!’We were curious and we got a closer look. What we saw was this black, black figure in the water, moving side to side, not frolicking around like a dolphin would. And we started running.”

Ayuso said she realized as she was hustling back to shore that if the shark truly intended harm, though, there would be no outright escape.

“You run in the water and you’re really not going all that fast,” she said. “If he wanted to catch us, he would have.”But the shark kept up a light pursuit and followed them to the shore, nearly beaching itself.

“It was a hammerhead,” she said. “Someone noted that they don’t bite, and we found he had a hook on his mouth. They got it off him and brought him back out there, but he kept coming back in.

“He kind of acted like nobody ever played with him, and he liked it.”

While the shark’s intentions proved benign, Ayuso said it was still a frightening experience, as well as an exciting one that will stick with her for a very long time.

If nothing else, it will prove one of her most memorable birthdays: that day, Ayuso celebrated her 41st birthday, and stands to celebrate many more after an encounter with a shark that proved friend, and not foe.

“My daughter teases me about that,” Ayuso said. “I won’t forget that day anytime soon.”

 

About Ryan Arena 2946 Articles
Sports Editor

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply