Feeding shark swims after boy in surf contest; ‘My heart stopped,’ mom says

A youth surfing contest at Satellite Beach in Florida was paused when sharks were spotted feeding on a baitball close to the competition with one shark seeming to take an interest in one of the surfers, as seen in video taken by a spectator.

As soon as organizers of the Gnarly Charley Surf Contest realized what was happening, they and spectators began yelling for the surfers to come to shore.

Tanner Brasol, 11, appeared to be the farthest out in the lineup and he immediately pulled his limbs out of the water and carefully paddled in, trying not to make a big disturbance on the water. Video, though “dramatized” by its maker with the use of music, captured the moment:

“My heart stopped,” Kelly Brasol, Tanner’s mother, told News6.

“He got the part where everything was finally a little bit of a relief. That’s where the video that you see picks up where Tanner had just gotten out of the bait pod. What was still terrifying, though, is you could still see in the video one of the sharks was very interested in him and continued to follow him.”

In the video, the shark can be seen in the wave that Tanner ultimately caught to help propel him into shore. “He was right there in that wave with him,” a man can be heard saying. A man helped pull Tanner the rest of the way in.

“A black tip or bull shark came through the lineup,” event organizer Charley Hajek told the Miami Herald. “The kids all did a great job getting to the beach. So proud of them. I tell them to always respect the ocean.”

Hajek told News6 that Tanner was “very calm” and “acted like a professional.”

“I was very scared,” Tanner told News6. “I was just like, this is not good. That shark, he’s not happy that I was in his bait. He thought I was competition for that bait.”

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After a 45-minute delay, the baitball dispersed and no sharks were spotted, so the contest resumed. Tanner initially thought about withdrawing but decided to give it one more try.

“If you stay calm around sharks they won’t attack,” Tanner told News6. “Keep your feet and hands out of the water. I didn’t want to get knocked out [of the competition] and I knew I was not gonna get bit. It’s just not that common to get bit. The sharks, they’re not after you; they’re more scared of humans.”

Undaunted, Tanner went on to win his division.