The friends, Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise, shared footage <\/a>of the scary encounter, which lasted around five minutes as they were hydrofoiling – riding surfboards equipped with underwater wings that lift them above the surface.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted it to be a dolphin<\/a>,\u201d Takeda told KTLA<\/a>. \u201cI honestly didn\u2019t think it was a dolphin, but I wanted it to be one. I yelled, \u2018Tavis, is this a dolphin?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Takeda told the outlet that, in the moment, there was no time to feel fear, even as the shark appeared to take an unusual interest in him.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of people see the shark, but that\u2019s it and then it\u2019s over,\u201d Takeda said. \u201cThis one was relentlessly chasing, and that\u2019s really what\u2019s so unique about this encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n The video shows Boise doing a double-take when he notices a shark fin suddenly breaking the surface just feet behind Takeda. Almost simultaneously, Takeda spots the predator and yells out, \u201cIs that a shark?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Boise shouts back. \u201cDon\u2019t fall!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God, it\u2019s coming for you,\u201d Boise calls while glancing back at his friend and maneuvering through the choppy water. \u201cWhat the f***. Ron! Ron! Go! Go!\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n Takeda zigzags across the waves in an attempt to evade the shark. The animal eventually lost interest in the pursuit, the men later said, allowing them both to safely make it back to shore.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a little bit more of an emotional reaction watching it (the footage) because it\u2019s definitely not a dolphin and you\u2019re watching it chase your friend, and it\u2019s very clearly interested in him,\u201d Boise said. <\/p>\n The heart-racing moment comes amid a string of recent shark sightings along the California<\/a> coast. In Huntington Beach, lifeguards spotted an estimated 10-foot great white shark feeding on a sea lion carcass near Sunset Beach, prompting officials to shut down the area for at least 48 hours as a precaution.<\/p>\n That same weekend, another great white sighting near the Huntington Beach Pier forced organizers to suspend a major professional surfing<\/a> competition.<\/p>\n Even with the recent increase in sightings, experts say shark bites in Southern California remain rare, with only a few dozen confirmed cases recorded over the past several decades, according to data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can encounter them all we want, but really it\u2019s their ocean and we\u2019re just small primates,\u201d Boise told KTLA.<\/p>\n![\"\u2018I](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-(4).png\")
\u2018I wanted it to be a dolphin,\u2019 the hydrofoiler being followed by a shark said (iStock)<\/p>\n