No surfer ever wants to get too close to a shark, but if they must take a bite you’d hope it was the board that bore the brunt of the attack.

Surfer Elinor Dempsey may need a new board but she walked away unscathed after a rather close call. ABC reports:

Dempsey was surfing in front of Morro Strand Campground in the central coast of California when she noticed what she thought was a dolphin underneath her board…But then the animal — believed to be a great white shark — went after her.

Dempsey pushed the board toward the shark as she jumped off. Nearby surfers helped bring her to shore…

Dempsey [said] that she was shaken but more upset that she never had enough time to surf.

“I didn’t get a wave,” said the 54-year-old surfer. “That’s the worst part — I got no waves.”

That’s some proper dedication right there. You wouldn’t find me in any great hurry to climb back into the water after seeing my board become a snack to what is rumoured to have been a six-foot great white.

[source:abc]