Edisto - Shark Guy

4th of July week is the most crowded week at Edisto beach. Last week, the beach was packed with people. It was sooo hot, that the water was full of people. I was out in the water with my 6 year old daughter and other family members.



Out past us, a little deeper, there was a guy with a teenage kid, paddling around in a bright orange kayak with fishing rods. Kayaking at the beach is, in-and-of-itself, a very "look at me" thing to do. This guy took it to another level.

The kayak started coming in closer to the shore and I could see that the kid had something on his line.

"What do you got?" I asked the guy as he paddled by.

"A 3 foot shark" he replied.

He then proceeded to row past us, row ashore, and beach the kayak. The kid handed the guy his fishing rod.

At this point, people started to get out of the water.

The guy started trying to bring in the shark and as it thrashed about in the shallow water and people saw what it was, more people started getting out of the water.

We just watched, amazed. "I hope it jumps out of the water and latches on to that guy's face" I said to my cousin Ryan.

Ryan was on leave from the Marines. "If anyone gets bitten by a shark this week, it is that guy's fault", Ryan warned, clinching his fists.

Then the guy starts walking down the beach toward us, trying to bring in the shark.

The water is now totally empty of people, who are all standing around watching.

Finally, the guy brings in the shark and throws it up unto the sand. It was about 3 feet long. It laid still. A crowd gathered to look.

My son, Sam said "It the shark going to bite someone?"

"No, it can't breath and it is dying." I answered, loud enough for all to hear.

Then the shark started thrashing around a bit covering itself with sand.

"What is it doing?" Sam asked.

"It is calling for its mama." I answered, again loud enough for all to hear.

The guy looked very confused and ran away.

A few of us walked over to the beach patrol lady who had pulled up on her 4-wheeler and asked if she could give the guy some sort of ticket. Regretfully, she answered "no" as the guy came back with some scissors, cut the line, and carried the shark, by the tail, and put it back into the water.

Idiot.