Two Santa Barbara foil surfers say they got a little more speed than they bargained for last Saturday when a large fin appeared to track one of them for several minutes during a downwind run from UC Santa Barbara toward Carpinteria. The encounter, captured on a GoPro mounted to Tavis Boise’s paddle, shows his longtime friend Ron Takeda holding his line on the foil as water churns behind him and Boise shouts warnings. The pair finished the run, then later posted follow-up clips to answer viewers who questioned what they actually saw.
The footage
The video, posted by Boise and now making the rounds among watermen and surf forums, catches the moment Takeda asks, “Is that a dolphin?” before realizing something bigger is cutting through the surface behind him. Their account of staying upright and completing the downwinder with a fin in the rearview was detailed by local outlet KEYT.
Experts differ on the animal
A marine biologist told NBC Los Angeles that the movement and outline in the clip look consistent with a mako shark, while surf outlet Surfer highlighted it as a possible juvenile great white. The split verdict underlines how tricky it is to nail down a species from surface footage alone, with observers dissecting fin shape, tail motion and behavior frame by frame.
How the surfers handled it
Boise and Takeda say they focused on staying balanced and keeping their speed until whatever was following them peeled off and they reached Carpinteria. Boise later posted a follow-up video responding to skeptics who suggested the clip might be staged. Local reporting notes the pair started their run near Campus Point and wrapped it up in Carpinteria, where they had a car waiting, according to KEYT.
Where this fits into a "sharky" season
Scientists and reporters have been flagging an uptick in shark activity along Southern California this spring, a trend linked to warm water and shifting prey that some experts say could be the start of a “sharky summer,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times. State officials still stress that shark incidents in California are uncommon and maintain public data and safety guidance through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Safety takeaways
Lifeguards and biologists continue to push a familiar playbook: swim near lifeguarded beaches, stay in groups, avoid dawn and dusk when you can and pay attention to wildlife activity around you. Those basics help lower risk even during busier shark seasons. For foilers and surfers specifically, experts say keeping speed and avoiding frantic splashing are sensible moves if a curious shark shows up nearby.
The clip has bounced around surf media and social feeds, but Boise and Takeda say the scare has not kept them off the water when the forecast lines up. For Santa Barbara-area locals, it is a pointed reminder that even seasoned riders can get surprised out there, and that spotting, reporting and respecting marine life is very much a team sport.
