Jun 22, 2008 10:15 pm US/Pacific
Woman Has Close Encounter With Shark Off Catalina
LOS ANGELES
A woman kayaking off the Catalina isthmus had a close encounter with a shark this weekend, according to a broadcast report.
Bettina Pereira was in an area she has frequented for years when a shark bumped her kayak, KCAL9 reported.
"My first thought was, "Wow, was that a whale?"' Pereira told KCAL.
"I couldn't believe it and all of a sudden when I seen the fin I realized this is not a whale -- this is a shark. By the time I thought that ... the shark was already cruising under me and lifting the kayak up with its body, and I landed out of the kayak right onto the shark's body."
Pereira's son told her husband a shark was attacking her, but the shark swam away and Pereira started swimming toward the shore, KCAL9 reported.
Two men in a boat pulled up and helped her to the shore.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
