close encounter – Page 5 – Syndication Server

Great white shark encounter literally a touching experience

Fishing took a backseat for some Florida anglers last Thursday when a large great white shark began to circle their 34-foot boat, at times within touching distance.

Erika Almond, owner of the Offshore Therapy vessel, captured the accompanying footage, which also shows the shark biting her outboard motors as the anglers watched in awe.

Capt. Tyler Levesque, who was hired by Almond to take her and a few friends snapper fishing, is the man seen touching the shark in the image atop this post.

https://www.facebook.com/FOX13TampaBay/videos/253536779732490/

“The whole experience was amazing,” he told For The Win Outdoors.

The encounter occurred 65 miles out of Venice in the Gulf of Mexico.

Almond explained that the shark, measuring perhaps 16 feet, appeared in a chum slick as the group was catching yellowtail snapper and mangrove snapper.

In a video recording, Almond stated: “The thing that made this even more interesting was this shark was not going to leave. He was there for about two to three hours, circled our boat continuously, bit the back of the boat several times, bit the motor several times, and even rolled on its back to show us its belly, as if it wanted us to pet it.”

Levesque said that at one point he fed the shark a longfin yellowtail that one of the anglers had caught.

Great white sharks are sometimes attracted to electrical impulses emitted by boat motors, and will bite them as a behavioral response.

Almond said Levesque touched the shark’s snout mainly to shove it from the motors.

The bites were not ferocious. However, Almond said that toward the end of the encounter the shark “came charging underneath the motors to attack them again, and hit them so hard that it caused boat to rock, and that’s when it took off.”

–Images courtesy of Erika Almond

Deer snatches hunter’s rifle, prompting search for weapon

Police in Czechoslovakia are asking the public to be on the lookout for a deer carrying a rifle – which the animal inadvertently stole from a hunter.

“If anyone finds the weapon, they are obliged to hand it over to the nearest police department,” Police of the Czech Republic stated in a news release.

The agency reported that last Friday “an older hunter” was with other hunters in the forest near Horní Planá in the South Bohemian region, when a hunting dog startled a deer.

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The deer charged toward and past the hunter, but not before its antlers tore the man’s sleeve and caught the strap of his .22-caliber rifle, tearing the weapon from his grip.

According to Police of the Czech Republic, another hunter later reported seeing a deer with a rifle dangling from its antlers about a mile away.

“The hunters, of course, searched the forest, but did not find a weapon,” Police of the Czech Republic stated. “The hunters had no choice but to report everything to the police.”

Thankfully, the agency added, the man who lost his rifle to the deer claimed that the weapon was not loaded.

–Deer image is generic

Watch: Boaters euphoric as massive whale ‘mugs’ vessel

Whale watchers on a recent voyage out of Newport Beach discovered just what means to be “mugged” by a 50-ton humpback whale.

Whale watchers on a voyage out of Newport Beach, Calif., on Saturday discovered just what means to be “mugged” by a 50-ton humpback whale.

The accompanying footage, captured by Mark Girardeau, shows the whale surfacing just inches from the 36-foot boat, generating an almost euphoric collective response.

“What do you do when a massive whale decides to surface right next to your boat? Well, stay there and enjoy it!” Girardeau wrote Tuesday on the Orange County Outdoors Facebook page.

The humpback whale was encountered during an all-day Pacific Offshore Expeditions trip, and remained with the boat for 30 minutes. When curious whales approach and circle boats in this manner it’s described as mugging behavior.

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The man shown in Girardeau’s video, enjoying the closest view, is Patrick Coyne, who wrote on Instagram:

“Saturday’s trip was one of the best days out on the water I’ve ever had. We had this curious Humpback whale check out our boat multiple times and get extremely close. These gentle giants truly amaze me and you can clearly hear how excited I am in the video.”

While NOAA Fisheries guidelines suggest that boaters remain at least 100 yards from whales, the proper course of action when a whale approaches a boat is to remain idle and let the situation play out.

Hunters react as huge momma grizzly towers over truck

Two hunters were stopped on a road recently by a momma grizzly that approached their truck and towered over them as they watched in awe.

Two hunters were stopped on a road recently by a momma grizzly bear that approached their truck and towered over them as they watched in awe.

“We were about to go on a deer hunt, but then saw the grizzly,” Justin Giesbrecht, who was with his father Ray, told For The Win Outdoors.

Giesbrecht captured the footage Oct. 31 near Edson in west-central Alberta, Canada. (Warning: The footage contains a profane word.)

It shows the massive bear approaching with three cubs, and reveals the hunters’ reactions as the bear stands on her hind legs, seemingly doubling in size.

“Oh … my gosh!” Giesbrecht says, in apparent disbelief.

“Did you get a picture?” Ray asks, nonchalantly.

Finally, momma bear lowers her stance, turns, and leads her cubs into the woods.

The footage was uploaded to YouTube on Monday by Viral Hog, which quotes Giesbrecht as saying, “We left the area out of respect for the grizzly family.”

Clearly, any subsequent deer hunt would have proved anticlimactic.

–Image courtesy of Viral Hog via Justin Giesbrecht

Whale shark greets anglers in extremely rare SoCal encounter

For a group of Southern California anglers on Sunday, the extremely rare sighting of a 15-foot whale shark more than made up for the lousy fishing.

“Coolest sighting, hands down,” Joey Engel, whose image accompanies this post, told For The Win Outdoors.

Engel, a deckhand for Dana Wharf Sportfishing, ventured offshore with friends in what would be a long and fruitless search for tuna. But the appearance of a whale shark, 35 miles southwest of Dana Point, broke the monotony of trolling.

Whale shark spotted by anglers Sunday at the 181 spot. Photo: Joey Engel

Engel said the gentle giant hung out for about eight minutes and “did one circle before he left.”

Whale sharks, which feed on plankton, are the world’s largest fish and can measure 30-plus feet. They inhabit tropical and warm-temperate waters and are sometimes encountered off southern Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez. But only a handful of sightings have been documented off Southern California – all in late summer during the past six years.

Engel said the water temperature at the 181 fathom spot, where they were fishing, was 72 degrees.

Whale shark encountered near Catalina in 2015. Photo: Triton Sportfishing

After the sighting of a 25-foot whale shark near Catalina on Sept. 15 2015 – five years to the day before Sunday’s sighting – Southern California-based shark expert Chris Lowe stated:

“I’d say that is very rare for our neck of the woods. I have heard accounts of occasional manta, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and wayward tiger sharks, but whale sharks are pretty rare this far north.”

Tense moments for family as bear removes window screen

A black bear provided scary moments for a family in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., recently when it removed a window screen and considered breaking in for several seconds despite the family’s loud pleas.

A black bear provided scary moments for a family in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., recently when it removed a window screen and considered breaking in despite the family’s pleas.

“We got a visit from one of our neighbors, apparently he is not fond of our front door and doesn’t know what ‘shoo’ means,” Christian Pondella joked on Instagram.

As viewers can see, the light-colored black bear deftly removes the screen and sniffs the air for several seconds as Pondella and his wife and son try shooing the bruin. At one point the bear seems on the verge of climbing through the window.

View this post on Instagram

We got a visit from one of our neighbors, apparently he is not fond of our front door and doesn’t know what “shoo” means 🤷‍♂️

A post shared by Christian Pondella (@christianpondella) on Jul 6, 2020 at 12:16pm PDT

Pondella, an adventure photographer, told For The Win Outdoors that the bear “eventually left” during the encounter last week, and it has not returned. “No damage except the screen,” Pondella said.

Black bears are abundant in the forest around Mammoth Lakes, and commonly sighted by residents.

–Image courtesy of Christian Pondella

Cheetah ambushed by leopard, but hardly overmatched

A tourist at South Africa’s Kruger National Park has captured rare footage of a leopard trying to ambush an unsuspecting cheetah.

Both cats are remarkable predators: the leopard holding an edge in terms of weight and strength, but the cheetah possessing more speed than any other land mammal.

That sets the stage for the scene that unfolded recently in front of Thokozani Phakathi, who sent the accompanying footage to Latest Sightings and described the event as “an unforgettable encounter that I will cherish for as long as my mind, heart, body and soul are together.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg0_HAm-w3g]

The video begins with the leopard sauntering alongside and upon a roadway, marking its territory as tourists watch in awe from their vehicles. At about the 1-minute mark the leopard seems to sense the presence of an approaching animal and lowers its crouch and plots a potential ambush.

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At 1:10 the leopard crouches deeper in the grass as the cheetah jogs into the picture. Phakathi said the young male cheetah had been calling out and seemed stressed, perhaps in search of a family member. The leopard, motionless behind a tree, waits until the cheetah is only yards away before charging.

Wrote Phakathi: “Just as the cheetah was a few meters away, the master of disguise pounced for a strike, the cheetah jolted with shock but accelerated and ran for his dear life.

“At some point, it was only the cheetah’s tale separating the two spotted cats, but the fastest [land mammal] on earth seized the moment to live up to his title and dashed off, escaping potential injuries or death as he was no match to that hefty fellow predator.”

The cheetah was too fast, but seemed to realize it had nearly walked into a deadly trap. When Phakathi saw the cheetah after the leopard had left the area “the cheetah was shaken and trembling like a leaf. He was even jumping in fear whenever tree branches were coming to contact with his legs or tail.”

–Images courtesy of Latest Sightings and Thokozani Phakathi

Mountain bikers’ close bear encounter caught on video

The accompanying footage, captured at Sun Peaks Bike Park shows a close encounter between expert mountain bikers and a bear on the trail.

When a wilderness bike park opens for a new season, riders face a stronger possibility of encountering critters – including bears! – that aren’t yet used to their presence.

The accompanying footage, captured at Sun Peaks Bike Park in British Columbia, Canada, shows a close encounter involving expert mountain bikers and a young bear that was not expecting the raucous intrusion.

“Oh, agh! Bear, dude!,” Jesse Melamed, the videographer and the rider closest to the bear, exclaims at the outset of the footage, which he uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq1rFcMrSqE]

The frightened bear charges down the trail briefly before fleeing into the safety of the lush grass.

“I almost ran over a bear!” reads some of the text in Melamed’s video.

Melamed was with Remi Gauvin, Miranda Miller and Lee Jackson, and their 19-minute exploits are entertaining even without the bear encounter.

But a longer version of the encounter can be viewed at 5:40. Viewers can see the bear rushing onto the trail immediately behind one rider, facing Melamed, who reacts with his “Ooh, ah!” remark as the bear quickly turns and runs from the approaching rider.

“Sorry, buddy!” Melamed says afer safely passing the critter.

The riders stop to review what had just happened. “Dude, I almost hit the thing, man,” Melamed says. “I thought it was like a little marmot or something.”

–Image courtesy of Jesse Melamed

Surfers ‘calmly’ encounter 20 giant basking sharks

A group of surfers paddled beyond Ireland’s western shore Saturday to search for giant basking sharks, and hit the jackpot.

Tom Gillespie, a former surf instructor turned environmental scientist, captured the accompanying footage showing the close encounter with several large sharks that were feeding on plankton.

Basking sharks, the second-largest shark species, after whale sharks, are harmless filter feeders and popular among divers because of their docile nature.

View this post on Instagram

Basking shark hangs this morning! 😳 Trying our best not to look like planktons

A post shared by Tom Gillespie (@tom__gillespie) on May 2, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

Gillespie, who was off Clare with three surfing buddies, told the Irish Examiner that they had heard of recent sightings so they woke up early and paddled more than 200 yards offshore.

“And there they were,” Gillespie said. “We reckon there could have been up to 20 or more of them over the space of about a kilometer.”

The sharks measured between 16 and 26 feet and swam with their mouths agape, ingesting plankton.

“We just tried to make sure we didn’t look like plankton,” Gillespie joked. “They were quite slow and peaceful, and they just came towards us and cruised past. We acted calmly and were very careful not to touch them.”

Gillespie added: “I’ve been surfing since I was 15 and occasionally you’ll see one or two, but I’ve never seen that many.”

The Irish Examiner quoted Padraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group as saying conditions lately have been prime for basking shark feeding activity.

“We have had high pressure and lots of sunlight, and these bright, calm conditions draw phytoplankton to the upper layers of the ocean and create viewing conditions that enable people to see the sharks,” Whooley explained.

Under these conditions the sharks appear to bask in the warmer surface layer; hence their name.

–Images courtesy of Tom Gillespie

Yellowstone bison interrupt TV reporter, and it’s hilarious

A reporter for NBC Montana has gained social media fame for his reaction during a close bison encounter inside Yellowstone National Park.

A reporter for NBC Montana has gained social media fame for his hilarious – and wise – reaction during a close bison encounter inside Yellowstone National Park.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh no… I ain’t messing with you,” Deion Broxton says in the accompanying footage, after noticing the advancing herd and before ducking for cover behind the crew vehicle. “Oh no. I’m not messing with you.”

Bison do not appear in the footage Broxton tweeted Wednesday, which was later shared to Facebook by NBC News Montana (both clips were widely circulated). But Broxton later tweeted a clip of several bison he caught on video “once I got a safe distance away.”

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It’s worth noting that bison, which can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds, are the largest land mammals in North America. They’re not typically aggressive toward humans, but they’re wild and unpredictable, and warrant a wide berth.

The footage was shared to Facebook by Yellowstone National Park, which wrote: “A perfect example of what to do when approached by wildlife! Thanks Deion for putting the Yellowstone pledge into action!”

Part of the pledge, requested of all park visitors, is to treat wild animals with respect by giving them distance and staying out of their way.

Yellowstone, which incorporates portions of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, has been in the news after announcing that it was closing indefinitely because of COVID-19 pandemic.