Hydrofoil Surfer Avoids Sharks by Flying Above the Lineup (Clip)

Dashel Pierson
·2 min read
6

New Smyrna Beach, Florida is notoriously sharky.

In fact, there are so many sharks there – mostly the chompy ones, too; bulls and tigers – that the beach has been chillingly dubbed, the “shark bite capital of the world.”

Luckily, however, the majority of the attacks on surfers and swimmers are non-fatal.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eric Geiselman (@ericgeiselman)

So, what to do if you’re a surfer in New Smyrna Beach? Move somewhere else? Suck it up, and take the nips? Learn karate? Krav maga?

Or what if there was a way to still surf, still immerse oneself amongst the literal hordes of sharks that hang out in the lineup, yet hover above them? For Eric Geiselman – aerialist surfer, New Smyrna Beach native, and hydrofoiler – that’s his solution.

If you can’t beat ‘em…join ‘em?

In a new clip posted by Geiselman, he shows just that – a super sharky day at New Smyrna, as he surfs above the creatures, soaring just out of reach, on a hydrofoil.

Pretty solid shark deterrent…just don’t fall.

Related: Tiger Shark Chases Pro Surfers in Hawaii (Watch)

As for the latest on the shark situation in Florida, and the world as a whole, a new annual report from the International Shark Attack File was recently published. And what they found was pretty consistent with past years, although some slight changes:

“Florida has long topped global charts for the number of shark bites, and 2023 was no different. Florida’s 16 cases represent 44% of the U.S. total and 23% of unprovoked bites worldwide. This is lower than Florida’s most recent five-year annual average of 19 incidents.”

And the sharkiest part of Florida?

“In Florida, Volusia County had the most shark bites (8), representing 50% of the state’s total.”

Guess where New Smyrna Beach is…that’s an easy one.

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