Daniel Sullivan was out in a kayak off the coast of Hawaii with his son Tristan when he says the shark attacked them in the “most visceral image I’ve ever seen”.
The 46-year-old said he was looking for whales with his son when he “stuck his camera housing” into the sea.
Mr Sullivan then describes how the kayak was “struck suddenly from underneath and thrown out of the water”.
He said: “As I looked down on either side of my legs were the jaws of a massive great white shark – it was the most terrifying visceral image I’ve ever seen.”
Great white shark
Wiki Commons
Maui, Hawaii
Wiki Commons
The impact sent the kayak – and all the camera equipment – flying into the air and plunging into the ocean depths.
Mr Sullivan told the Daily Star: “As the giant shark’s teeth dug into the boat he pulled us back on top of him.
“As I fell into the water I was still holding my paddle, I began beating him away from me.”
He explains how he made sure his son was safe and got back into the kayak, only for the shark to flip it over again and leave them both “terrified”.
The pair then found themselves lying on the boat – with a hole ripped out by the shark – stranded in the open sea while the great white circled below.
They attempted to swim to shore, with just a metal camera housing as a potential weapon should the shark attack again.
In a twist of fate that can only be put down to luck, the shark never returned on their panic-stricken journey back to the Hawaiian coastline.
Recalling the moment they reached Maui Island’s west side, Mr Sullivan said: “We were both alive and, in many ways, I’d felt that I’d been given a second chance.
“The next day I remember waking up and kissing my wife and three kids so happy I was alive.”
Mr Sullivan is now looking to raise £22,343 to cover the costs of his new book, featuring the nature photography he took before being attacked in February 2022.
To view his Kickstarter campaign page, click here.
