'It looked into my eyes': Surfer recounts close call with 18-foot great white shark at Mavericks

Look closely and you'll see there's a shark in the water. Drake Stanley says he snapped this picture as the great white swam away after nearly attacking a fellow surfer at Mavericks. Look closely and you'll see there's a shark in the water. Drake Stanley says he snapped this picture as the great white swam away after nearly attacking a fellow surfer at Mavericks. Photo: Drake Stanley Photo: Drake Stanley Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close 'It looked into my eyes': Surfer recounts close call with 18-foot great white shark at Mavericks 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

There are a lot of risks associated with surfing at Mavericks, the iconic surf spot just north of Half Moon Bay. If the five-story waves aren't enough to scare you off, there are also great white sharks to contend with from time to time.

Drake Stanley was reminded of this fact of nature while out on the water Sunday. It was around 1:30 p.m. He had been surfing earlier in the day, but was doing a shift of rescue duty on a jet ski, where he helps out surfers who have nasty wipeouts.

He was watching the surf when he spotted something moving underneath him, just six inches below the surface. At first, he thought it was a whale.

"It was the biggest great white I've ever seen. It was much larger than my jet ski and rescue board combined," said Stanley.

From that side-by-side comparison, he estimated the shark was 16 to 18 feet long.

"As it came up, it rolled over on its side to look at me with its giant, dark eye. And I could see scars and cuts all down its body, like teeth scars," recounted Stanley. "From all my 'Shark Week' watching expertise, I knew that it was a female." (Side note for non-shark nerds: female great whites often get these scars while mating. Male sharks bite to show interest and hold females in place with their teeth.)

"The trippiest thing about the whole encounter was the way it was looking at me. It looked into my eyes. We made eye contact."

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At first, Stanley was just awestruck. But then things got a little scarier. He said the shark set its eyes on a nearby surfer, who was paddling toward the beach.

"It just beelined straight towards the surfer from behind. ... That's when I realized I needed to go into rescue mode."

Stanley raced to intercept the shark before it reached the surfer, revving the jet ski's engine right above the creature's head. He said that was enough to scare it away. When the great white turned away to swim further into the ocean, Stanley snapped one quick picture on his iPhone.

Still, the surfers were spooked and weren't too keen to catch any more waves the afternoon.

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"Nobody wanted to be in the water anymore that's for sure," said Stanley. The spots on his rescue jet ski were first come, first serve. He didn't have enough room for everyone up top, so the rest of the surfers grabbed on to the sides as he towed all eight people back to shore.

"It's about a 30-minute paddle, but with the whole group [on the jet ski] it took about 10 minutes. It felt like an eternity though.

"You have to know as a surfer in this area that [sharks] are there and that's a risk you accept, just like you accept the risk of surfing a 50-foot wave," said Stanley. "It's their world we're going into."

It's a risk Stanley is willing to accept, at least. He's been back out on the water since Sunday and so far, no sign of his 18-foot friend.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at alix.martichoux@sfgate.com.

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