Surfing teen gets upstaged when shark bursts from wave off SC and starts spinning

A Tennessee teen practicing his surfing technique got upstaged by a shark last week, when the rambunctious predator burst from the ocean a few feet away and began a series of Olympic-style spins.

It happened Friday off North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to the teen’s mother, Kaci Allen. She identified the surfer as her 15-year-old son, Ethan, whom she calls “E.”

Her video shows Ethan’s surf board crossed over the shark a split second before it jumped from the water.

“I didn’t even realize we’d captured the shark jumping up right after he pulled his feet up on the board!” Kaci Allen posted on Facebook.

“I didn’t see this one until he was scrolling through videos! ... Seriously though, (as) soon as E pulled his feet up! ... We’ve seen sharks in the water before, but never captured video of one; they’re fast!”

The family lives near Nashville, Tennessee, but Kaci Allen is a Myrtle Beach native, according to her Facebook page.

It’s believed the shark was a young spinner shark, a species common off South Carolina that grows to about 6 feet and 120 pounds, according to Sciencing.com. Spinner sharks are not considered a threat to humans, the site says.

“This shark hunts by rapidly swimming upward into a school of fish while spinning and biting in all directions,” Sciencing.com reports. “It often breaches the water surface and spins through the air, which is how it gets its name.”

Kaci Allen also shared the video on YouTube, where she explained her son began learning to surf 5 years ago and he visits the Cherry Grove pier area of North Myrtle Beach a few times each year to practice.

As of Monday, her video has gotten 4,500 reactions and more than 300 comments via shares on Facebook, including some people who say the shark was trying to upstage her son. Others found the close call discomforting.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Shark is like watch this,” Renee Hanna Irvin wrote on the Facebook.

“I’m never getting into the ocean again,” Elizabeth Madeira wrote.

”Praise the Lord the surfer got out of the way,” Judy Linthicum McKenzie posted.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 8:10 AM with the headline "Surfing teen gets upstaged when shark bursts from wave off SC and starts spinning."