Man Faces Great White Shark as It Chomps on His Kayak at Santa Barbara Beach

A large great white shark triggered a beach closure in Santa Barbara on Thursday after it sunk its teeth into a kayaker’s vessel.

“The only thing I saw was its face in my face, clamping down and then shoving me sideways,” said Bret Z. Jackson, 40, of Los Angeles. His expletive-laced, mile-a-minute retelling of the encounter suggested his adrenaline was still pumping a couple of hours later.

“Yeah, it was … big, it was right in my face. It was a great white — gray on top, white on bottom, black eyes.”

Jackson said he had been paddling in his kayak for about 45 minutes when the shark made its move. It approached from beneath, then came up from the side, its teeth only inches away from digging into Jackson’s torso.