The family of an Orcutt teenager counted its blessings Sunday after a close encounter with a shark that resulted only in a damaged surfboard.

Ben Ikola, 16, was pursuing his favorite hobby Saturday afternoon at Pismo Beach, when his 7-foot-long surfboard began to shake. It wasn't the usual type of wavering that occurs when he hits seaweed, he said, but much stronger.

Then he felt something brush his leg and was immediately flipped off the board. Not knowing what was going on, he kicked at whatever had attacked him and swam to shore as fast as he could, he said.

"In my mind I was just thinking, get out of the water," the Righetti High School student said.

Ikola said his cousin saw a fin in the water but thought it was a sea lion. It wasn't until Ikola looked at the deep punctures in his surfboard that he had an idea of what just happened - he had been attacked by a shark.

Ikola was not injured, but he was shaken. Though he joined friends at a bonfire that night, he had a hard time falling asleep when he got home, he said. It wasn't until Sunday morning when he realized he was lucky to be alive, he added.

"It was nothing but a miracle," said Ikola's mother, Lisa, who was happy and grateful that he came home alive. "He's so lucky."

Advertisement

It was not known Sunday what kind of shark bit the surfboard. The Pismo Beach Police Department will have a marine biologist and the state Department of Fish and Game inspect the bite marks on the board, said Sgt. Jake Miller.

While marine experts try to determine precisely what happened, beach officials took no chances Sunday.

Warning signs were posted along the waters of the Pismo Beach State Park area and at Pismo Beach along the city limits, warning swimmers of a possible attack, said Mike Harkness of the California Department of Forestry, which serves as the city's fire department. The city does not have the authority to close its beaches outright.

The waters of the Port San Luis Harbor District - from Pirate's Cove north to Olde Port Beach - have been closed, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department. It is unknown how long the closure will remain in effect, however the district last year approved regulations that would make the waters off-limits for five days after a shark attack or credible sighting in the area. Harbor officials could not be reached Sunday.

Firefighters, doubling as lifeguards, patrolled the area where Ikola was attacked and warned swimmers of the shark incident. However, the numerous warnings did not deter other surfers.

"Sharks don't mean harm," said Jereme Gaeta of Bakersfield, who was out surfing with friends. "They just mistake us for other animals."

Gaeta and two friends, who were learning how to surf Sunday, were not deterred by Saturday's events. Gaeta said surfers know they are in a shark's territory.

Ikola also plans on hitting the waves again, he said, after he gets a new board. It is a hobby he enjoys too much to give up, he said, and he hopes to get his board back as a souvenir.

* Staff writer Elizabeth Rodriguez can be reached at 347-4580 or by e-mail at erodriguez@pulitzer.net.

Oct. 4, 2004