Very few people encounter sharks in the ocean and live to tell the tale. If you watched the iconic movie ‘Jaws’, such a rendezvous would probably terrify and traumatize you. Yet professional kitesurfer Alex had just one such chance meeting. In fact, he collided headlong into the Elasmobranch fish just off Cabarete in the Dominican Republic coast.
Alex Soto is training for the 2019 Pan American Games. In the course of kitesurfing, he fell off the board after colliding with a shark, reports The West Australian. The pro kitesurfer managed to hang on to the kite, which probably saved his life! The most curious part remains that it was all captured on a GoPro camera.
“I went back to the school where I work, and I told the guys but they didn’t believe me. but I had my GoPro and I showed them the video,” says Alex.
Take a look at the heart-stopping clip that has now been shared widely on the internet!
Alex Soto in shark 🦈 crash follow > Kiteboard.racing < #kitesurfing kitefoil #hydrofoil #shark #kiteboardracing Cabarete Kite Academy
Posted by Kiteboard.racing on Saturday, December 22, 2018
Apparently, Soto noticed the shark just seconds before the crash. However, his he was going too fast to avoid it. He flipped off his board into the water, while still holding on to his kite. Alex also spoke of the collision-
“I never saw a shark in Cabarete in 14 years, when I saw the shark I was surprised.
We are invading their habitat, do not be surprised if you see any sharks!”
The surfer escaped unharmed and lives to tell the tale. As did the poor shark who was swimming away minding his own business. But the foil on his kite and the board was completely ruined.
Soto shared the video of his spine-chilling encounter on social media on Thursday. The video went viral instantly garnering scores of views from people all around the world!